Which to use
“enquérir” and “enquêter” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #45,018
- “enquérir” frequency rank
- #9,995
- “enquêter” frequency rank
- 55013
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | enquérir | enquêter |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | S’informer ; faire des recherches. | Faire une enquête. |
Where the eye mixes enquérir and enquêter
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. enquérir and enquêter follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: enquérir vs enquêter
A purely visual mix-up. enquérir (\ɑ̃.ke.ʁiʁ\) and enquêter (\ɑ̃.ke.te\) 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 55013, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
enquérir is recorded at frequency rank #45,018, classified as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ke.ʁiʁ\. enquêter is at rank #9,995, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɑ̃.ke.te\.
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 55013, this pair ranks #130,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of enquérir vs enquêter
Shared letters: enqru. Private to "enquérir": ié. Private to "enquêter": tê.
"enquérir" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC · "enquêter" · 8 letters · shape VCCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "enquérir" and "enquêter" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "enquérir" or "enquêter" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "enquérir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "enquêter" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #130,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "enquérir" and "enquêter" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enquêtent vs enquêter". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #130,212 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.