équipervséquipesWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#14,394
“équiper” frequency rank
#1,311
“équipes” frequency rank
15705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature équiper équipes
Definition Pourvoir un vaisseau, une flotte de tout ce qui est nécessaire. Pluriel de équipe.

Where the eye mixes équiper and équipes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. équiper and équipes follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
équiper
7 ch
équipes

Look-alike desk: équiper vs équipes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: équiper is \e.ki.pe\ while équipes is \e.kip\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - r in “équiper” becomes s in “équipes”, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

équiper is recorded at frequency rank #14,394, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ki.pe\. 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 15705, this pair ranks #391,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of équiper vs équipes

Shared letters: eipqué. Private to "équiper": r. Private to "équipes": s.

"équiper" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC  ·  "équipes" · 7 letters · shape VCVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "équiper" and "équipes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "équiper" is a verb and "équipes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "équiper" or "équipes"?
"équipes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,311 in our French list, against #14,394 for "équiper". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "équiper" 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 #391,180 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "équiper" and "équipes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "équipent vs équiper". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #391,180 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