éparsvsépéesTell them apart

Quick tell: épars is a adjective, épées is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“épars” is an adjective and “épées” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,217
“épars” frequency rank
#18,628
“épées” frequency rank
54845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épars épées
Definition Répandu de ci, de là. Pluriel de épée.

Letter map: épars vs épées

Shared letters muted; letters that set épars and épées apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

5 ch
épars
5 ch
épées

Part-of-speech tell for épars / épées

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: épars is anadjective and épéesanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épars is recorded at frequency rank #36,217, classified as anadj. épées is at rank #18,628, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pe\.

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 54845, this pair ranks #131,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épars vs épées

Shared letters: psé. Private to "épars": ar. Private to "épées": e.

"épars" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC  ·  "épées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "épars" and "épées" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épars" is an adjective and "épées" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "épars" vs "épées" - which ranks higher?
"épées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,628 in our French list, against #36,217 for "épars". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "épars" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "épées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #131,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épars" and "épées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épars vs épaté". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #131,297 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