épîtrevséviteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: épître is a noun, évite is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“épître” is a noun and “évite” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,794
“épître” frequency rank
#5,096
“évite” frequency rank
36890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épître évite
Definition Lettre missive, chez les anciens. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de éviter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set épître and évite apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
épître
5 ch
évite

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épître is \e.pitʁ\ while évite is \e.vit\. 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 36890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épître is recorded at frequency rank #31,794, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.pitʁ\. évite is at rank #5,096, 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 36890, this pair ranks #266,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épître vs évite

Shared letters: eté. Private to "épître": prî. Private to "évite": iv.

"épître" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCV  ·  "évite" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Frequency comparison

épître#31,794
évite#5,096

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "épître" and "évite" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épître" is a noun and "évite" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "épître" or "évite"?
"évite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,096 in our French list, against #31,794 for "épître". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering épître vs évite

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “épître”; for a verb, it's “évite”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “épître” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list