épuisévsexpulseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: épuisé is a adjective, expulse is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“épuisé” is an adjective and “expulse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,259
“épuisé” frequency rank
#33,255
“expulse” frequency rank
42514
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature épuisé expulse
Definition (En parlant d’un gisement, d’une source) Qui ne contient plus de produit exploitable. Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de expulser.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
épuisé
7 ch
expulse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: épuisé is \e.pɥi.ze\ while expulse is \ɛk.spyls\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42514, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

épuisé is recorded at frequency rank #9,259, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.pɥi.ze\. expulse is at rank #33,255, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛk.spyls\.

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 42514, this pair ranks #225,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of épuisé vs expulse

Shared letters: psu. Private to "épuisé": . Private to "expulse": elx.

"épuisé" · 6 letters · shape VCVVCV  ·  "expulse" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • expulseepxulse · expluse · exppulse · expules · expullse · expulsse · expusle · exuplse

Frequency comparison

épuisé#9,259
expulse#33,255

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "épuisé" and "expulse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "épuisé" is an adjective and "expulse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "épuisé" or "expulse"?
"épuisé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,259 in our French list, against #33,255 for "expulse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering épuisé vs expulse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “épuisé”; for a verb, it's “expulse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “épuisé” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list