Which to use
“épave” is an adjective and “espace” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,498
- “épave” frequency rank
- #739
- “espace” frequency rank
- 14237
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épave | espace |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est égaré et dont on ne connaît pas le propriétaire. S’utilise surtout pour les animaux d’élevage. | Étendue indéfinie. |
Where the eye mixes épave and espace
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. épave runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against espace's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: épave vs espace
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épave is \e.pav\ while espace is \ɛs.pas\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épave is recorded at frequency rank #13,498, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pav\. espace is at rank #739, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pas\.
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 14237, this pair ranks #397,556 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épave vs espace
Shared letters: aep. Private to "épave": vé. Private to "espace": cs.
"épave" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "espace" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- espace ← epsace · esapce · espacce · espaec · espcae · esppace · esspace · sepace
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épave" for "espace" ever safe?
Which is more common, "épave" or "espace"?
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 "épave" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espace" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #397,556 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épave" and "espace" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épaté vs épave". 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 #397,556 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.