EPOvsetsTell them apart

Which to use

“EPO” and “ets” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#49,067
“EPO” frequency rank
#23,541
“ets” frequency rank
72608
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature EPO ets
Definition Hormone glycoprotéique, facteur de croissance des précurseurs des globules rouges dans la moelle osseuse. Eau-forte.

Where the eye mixes EPO and ets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
EPO
3 ch
ets

Visual trap between EPO and ets

A purely visual mix-up. EPO (\ø.pe.o\) and ets (\ɛts\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 72608, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

EPO is recorded at frequency rank #49,067, classified as anoun, pronounced \ø.pe.o\. ets is at rank #23,541, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛts\.

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 72608, this pair ranks #43,400 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of EPO vs ets

Shared letters: e. Private to "EPO": op. Private to "ets": st.

"EPO" · 3 letters · shape VCV  ·  "ets" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "EPO" for "ets" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\ø.pe.o\ versus \ɛts\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "EPO" or "ets"?
"ets" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,541 in our French list, against #49,067 for "EPO". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "EPO" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,400 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "EPO" and "ets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ell vs EPO". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #43,400 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