Which to use
“énoncé” is a noun and “étonne” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,496
- “énoncé” frequency rank
- #5,208
- “étonne” frequency rank
- 18704
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | énoncé | étonne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ce qu’on énonce. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de étonner. |
Where the eye mixes énoncé and étonne
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. énoncé and étonne follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses énoncé with étonne
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: énoncé is \e.nɔ̃.se\ while étonne is \e.tɔn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
énoncé is recorded at frequency rank #13,496, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.nɔ̃.se\. étonne is at rank #5,208, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɔn\.
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 18704, this pair ranks #376,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of énoncé vs étonne
Shared letters: noé. Private to "énoncé": c. Private to "étonne": et.
"énoncé" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV · "étonne" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "énoncé" for "étonne" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "énoncé" or "étonne" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "énoncé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étonne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #376,981 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "énoncé" and "étonne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "énoncé vs énoncée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #376,981 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.