Which to use
“épouses” and “excuses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #14,832
- “épouses” frequency rank
- #3,914
- “excuses” frequency rank
- 18746
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | épouses | excuses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de épouse. | Pluriel de excuse. |
Where the eye mixes épouses and excuses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. épouses (VCVVCVC) and excuses (VCCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between épouses and excuses
A purely visual mix-up. épouses (\e.puz\) and excuses (\ɛks.kyz\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18746, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
épouses is recorded at frequency rank #14,832, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.puz\. excuses is at rank #3,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛks.kyz\.
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 18746, this pair ranks #376,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of épouses vs excuses
Shared letters: esu. Private to "épouses": opé. Private to "excuses": cx.
"épouses" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC · "excuses" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- excuses ← ecxuses · exccuses · excsues · excuess · excusess · excusses · exucses · exxcuses
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "épouses" and "excuses" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "épouses" or "excuses" 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 "épouses" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "excuses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #376,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "épouses" and "excuses" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épopées vs épouses". 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 #376,780 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.