Which to use
“environs” is a noun and “évitons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,073
- “environs” frequency rank
- #35,787
- “évitons” frequency rank
- 39860
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | environs | évitons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Les alentours d’un lieu, ce qu’il y a autour. | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de éviter. |
Where the eye mixes environs and évitons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses environs with évitons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: environs is \ɑ̃.vi.ʁɔ̃\ while évitons is \e.vi.tɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
environs is recorded at frequency rank #4,073, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɑ̃.vi.ʁɔ̃\. évitons is at rank #35,787, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.vi.tɔ̃\.
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 39860, this pair ranks #244,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of environs vs évitons
Shared letters: inosv. Private to "environs": er. Private to "évitons": té.
"environs" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "évitons" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- environs ← enivrons · ennvirons · enviorns · envirnos · environns · environss · envirosn · envirrons
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "environs" and "évitons" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "environs" or "évitons"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "environs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "évitons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #244,834 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "environs" and "évitons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "évitées vs évitons". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #244,834 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.