Which to use
“épousa” is a verb and “époux” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,600
- “épousa” frequency rank
- #4,819
- “époux” frequency rank
- 22419
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épousa | époux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier du passé simple de épouser. | Mari, dans le mariage. |
Where the eye mixes épousa and époux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épousa runs 6 letters (VCVVCV) against époux's 5 (VCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: épousa vs époux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épousa is \e.pu.za\ while époux is \e.pu\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22419, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épousa is recorded at frequency rank #17,600, classified as averb, pronounced \e.pu.za\. époux is at rank #4,819, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.pu\.
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 22419, this pair ranks #358,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épousa vs époux
Shared letters: opué. Private to "épousa": as. Private to "époux": x.
"épousa" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV · "époux" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "épousa" for "époux" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "épousa" or "époux" 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 "épousa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "époux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,067 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épousa" and "époux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épousa vs épousera". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #358,067 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.