énerventvsenlèventTell them apart

Which to use

“énervent” and “enlèvent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#33,528
“énervent” frequency rank
#22,255
“enlèvent” frequency rank
55783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature énervent enlèvent
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de énerver. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de enlever.

Where the eye mixes énervent and enlèvent

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. énervent (VCVCCVCC) and enlèvent (VCCVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
énervent
8 ch
enlèvent

Why the eye confuses énervent with enlèvent

A purely visual mix-up. énervent (\e.nɛʁv\) and enlèvent (\ɑ̃.lɛv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

énervent is recorded at frequency rank #33,528, classified as averb, pronounced \e.nɛʁv\. enlèvent is at rank #22,255, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.lɛv\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 55783, this pair ranks #125,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of énervent vs enlèvent

Shared letters: entv. Private to "énervent": ré. Private to "enlèvent": lè.

"énervent" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC  ·  "enlèvent" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "énervent" and "enlèvent" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.nɛʁv\ versus \ɑ̃.lɛv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "énervent" or "enlèvent" show up more?
"enlèvent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #22,255 in our French list, against #33,528 for "énervent". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "énervent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "enlèvent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #125,272 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "énervent" and "enlèvent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "énervent vs entravent". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #125,272 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list