équipentvséquipesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#45,969
“équipent” frequency rank
#1,311
“équipes” frequency rank
47280
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature équipent équipes
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de équiper. Pluriel de équipe.

Same sound, different letters: équipent vs équipes

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. équipent runs 8 letters (VCVVCVCC) against équipes's 7 (VCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
équipent
7 ch
équipes

Homophone desk: équipent vs équipes

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: équipent and équipes carry the same recorded pronunciation, \e.kip\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

équipent is recorded at frequency rank #45,969, classified as averb, pronounced \e.kip\. équipes is at rank #1,311, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.kip\.

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 47280, this pair ranks #188,184 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of équipent vs équipes

Shared letters: eipqué. Private to "équipent": nt. Private to "équipes": s.

"équipent" · 8 letters · shape VCVVCVCC  ·  "équipes" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "équipent" for "équipes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "équipent" is a verb and "équipes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "équipent" vs "équipes" - which ranks higher?
"équipes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,311 in our French list, against #45,969 for "équipent". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

You've separated the homophone pair "équipent" / "équipes". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.

  • Full dictionary entry for "équipent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "équipes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #188,184 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "équipent" and "équipes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "équipent vs equipment". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #188,184 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