épivseuhWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: épi is a noun, euh is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“épi” is a noun and “euh” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#26,231
“épi” frequency rank
#2,224
“euh” frequency rank
28455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épi euh
Definition Partie du blé et de plusieurs autres plantes graminées, qui est placée au sommet de la tige, et formée par la réunion des graines. Interjection qui marque le doute, l’incertitude, l’étonnement ou une certaine contradiction.

Where the eye mixes épi and euh

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. No shared run - shape, not overlap, is the trap. épi (VCV) and euh (VVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
épi
3 ch
euh

Visual trap between épi and euh

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épi is \e.pi\ while euh is \ø(ː)\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épi is recorded at frequency rank #26,231, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pi\. euh is at rank #2,224, tagged as anintj, pronounced \ø(ː)\.

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 28455, this pair ranks #322,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épi vs euh

Shared letters: none. Private to "épi": ipé. Private to "euh": ehu.

"épi" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "euh" · 3 letters · shape VVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "épi" for "euh" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épi" is a noun and "euh" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "épi" or "euh" show up more?
"euh" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,224 in our French list, against #26,231 for "épi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "épi" and "euh" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "épi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "euh" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #322,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "épi" and "euh" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épi vs épier". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #322,693 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