Which to use
“épiques” is an adjective and “expliques” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #30,441
- “épiques” frequency rank
- #20,441
- “expliques” frequency rank
- 50882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épiques | expliques |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épique. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif du verbe expliquer. |
Where the eye mixes épiques and expliques
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. épiques runs 7 letters (VCVCVVC) against expliques's 9 (VCCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between épiques and expliques
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épiques is \e.pik\ while expliques is \ɛks.plik\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épiques is recorded at frequency rank #30,441, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pik\. expliques is at rank #20,441, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛks.plik\.
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 50882, this pair ranks #159,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of épiques vs expliques
Shared letters: eipqsu. Private to "épiques": é. Private to "expliques": lx.
"épiques" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC · "expliques" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- expliques ← epxliques · exlpiques · expilques · expliqeus · expliqques · expliquess · expliquse · expliuqes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "épiques" and "expliques" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "épiques" or "expliques" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "épiques" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expliques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,212 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épiques" and "expliques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "expliquais vs expliques". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #159,212 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.