Which to use
“épines” is a noun and “évites” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,722
- “épines” frequency rank
- #31,315
- “évites” frequency rank
- 51037
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épines | évites |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épine. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de éviter. |
Where the eye mixes épines and évites
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épines and évites follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: épines vs évites
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épines is \e.pin\ while évites is \e.vit\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51037, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épines is recorded at frequency rank #19,722, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pin\. évites is at rank #31,315, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.vit\.
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 51037, this pair ranks #158,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épines vs évites
Shared letters: eisé. Private to "épines": np. Private to "évites": tv.
"épines" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "évites" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "épines" and "évites" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "épines" vs "évites" - which ranks higher?
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 "épines" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "évites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épines" and "évites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "édits vs évites". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #158,076 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.