épées vs épis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#18,628
“épées” frequency rank: #26,234
“épis” frequency rank: 44862
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	épées	épis
Definition	Pluriel de épée.	Pluriel de épi.

Where the eye mixes épées and épis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. épées runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against épis's 4 (VCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch

épées

4 ch

épis

Why the eye confuses épées with épis

A purely visual mix-up. épées (\e.pe\) and épis (\e.pi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44862, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épées is recorded at frequency rank #18,628, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pe\. épis is at rank #26,234, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pi\.

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 44862, this pair ranks #207,225 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épées vs épis

Shared letters: psé. Private to "épées": e. Private to "épis": i.

"épées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "épis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "épées" and "épis" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\e.pe\ versus \e.pi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "épées" or "épis"?

"épées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,628 in our French list, against #26,234 for "épis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

Full dictionary entry for "épées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "épis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #207,225 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"épées" and "épis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs épis". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #207,225 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.