épvsepicWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: ép is a verb, epic is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“ép” is a verb and “epic” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,216
“ép” frequency rank
#19,010
“epic” frequency rank
55226
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ép epic
Definition Presser; pressurer; exprimer; fouler. Dans les méthodes agiles, fonctionnalité en attente de décomposition en stories plus petites.

Where the eye mixes ép and epic

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ép runs 2 letters (VC) against epic's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

2 ch
ép
4 ch
epic

Visual trap between ép and epic

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ép is \ɛp˦˥\ while epic is \e.pik\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55226, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ép is recorded at frequency rank #36,216, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛp˦˥\. epic is at rank #19,010, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pik\.

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 55226, this pair ranks #128,839 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of ép vs epic

Shared letters: p. Private to "ép": é. Private to "epic": cei.

"ép" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "epic" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • epic ← eipc · epicc · eppic · peic

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ép" and "epic" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "ép" is a verb and "epic" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "ép" vs "epic" - which ranks higher?
"epic" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,010 in our French list, against #36,216 for "ép". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "ép" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "epic" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #128,839 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ép" and "epic" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ép vs EPO". 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 #128,839 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