éparsvséparsesConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,217
“épars” frequency rank
#38,116
“éparses” frequency rank
74333
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épars éparses
Definition Répandu de ci, de là. Féminin pluriel de épars.

Letter map: épars vs éparses

Shared letters muted; letters that set épars and éparses apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

5 ch
épars
7 ch
éparses

Pair insight - épars / éparses

épars and éparses are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “épars” sits inside “éparses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épars is recorded at frequency rank #36,217, classified as anadj. éparses is at rank #38,116, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.paʁs\.

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 74333, this pair ranks #37,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of épars vs éparses

Shared letters: aprsé. Private to "épars": -. Private to "éparses": e.

"épars" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "éparses" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "épars" for "éparses" ever safe?
No. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “épars” sits inside “éparses”, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary French text, does "épars" or "éparses" show up more?
"épars" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,217 in our French list, against #38,116 for "éparses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "épars" and "éparses".

  • Full dictionary entry for "épars" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "éparses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,493 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épars" and "éparses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épargnes vs éparses". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #37,493 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