Which to use
“épées” is a noun and “êtes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,628
- “épées” frequency rank
- #362
- “êtes” frequency rank
- 18990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épées | êtes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épée. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de être. |
Where the eye mixes épées and êtes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses épées with êtes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épées is \e.pe\ while êtes is \ɛt\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18990, 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\. êtes is at rank #362, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛt\.
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 18990, this pair ranks #375,582 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épées vs êtes
Shared letters: es. Private to "épées": pé. Private to "êtes": tê.
"épées" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "êtes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "épées" and "êtes" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "épées" or "êtes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "épées" and "êtes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "épées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "êtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #375,582 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épées" and "êtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épées vs épier". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #375,582 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.