Which to use
“espaces” and “espèces” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,253
- “espaces” frequency rank
- #1,864
- “espèces” frequency rank
- 5117
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espaces | espèces |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de espace. | Pluriel de espèce. |
Where the eye mixes espaces and espèces
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. espaces and espèces follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between espaces and espèces
A purely visual mix-up. espaces (\ɛs.pas\) and espèces (\ɛs.pɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “espaces” becomes è in “espèces”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5117, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espaces is recorded at frequency rank #3,253, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pas\. espèces is at rank #1,864, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pɛs\.
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 5117, this pair ranks #429,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of espaces vs espèces
Shared letters: ceps. Private to "espaces": a. Private to "espèces": è.
"espaces" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "espèces" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- espaces ← epsaces · esapces · espacces · espacess · espacse · espaecs · espcaes · esppaces
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espaces" for "espèces" ever safe?
Frequency check: "espaces" vs "espèces" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "espaces" and "espèces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "espaces" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espèces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #429,853 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espaces" and "espèces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espèces vs espérée". 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 #429,853 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.