Which to use
“épis” and “étais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #26,234
- “épis” frequency rank
- #358
- “étais” frequency rank
- 26592
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épis | étais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épi. | Pluriel de étai. |
Where the eye mixes épis and étais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. épis runs 4 letters (VCVC) against étais's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses épis with étais
A purely visual mix-up. épis (\e.pi\) and étais (\e.tɛ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épis is recorded at frequency rank #26,234, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pi\. étais is at rank #358, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɛ\.
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 26592, this pair ranks #334,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épis vs étais
Shared letters: isé. Private to "épis": p. Private to "étais": at.
"épis" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "étais" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "épis" and "étais" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "épis" vs "étais" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "épis" and "étais" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "épis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #334,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épis" and "étais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs épis". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #334,035 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.