Which to use
“épées” is a noun and “espères” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,628
- “épées” frequency rank
- #39,788
- “espères” frequency rank
- 58416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épées | espères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épée. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de espérer. |
Where the eye mixes épées and espères
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. épées runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against espères's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: épées vs espères
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épées is \e.pe\ while espères is \ɛs.pɛʁ\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58416, 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\. espères is at rank #39,788, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pɛʁ\.
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 58416, this pair ranks #109,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of épées vs espères
Shared letters: eps. Private to "épées": é. Private to "espères": rè.
"épées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "espères" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épées" for "espères" ever safe?
Frequency check: "épées" vs "espères" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "épées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #109,195 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épées" and "espères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espères vs expertes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #109,195 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.