espaces vs espères, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,253
“espaces” frequency rank: #39,788
“espères” frequency rank: 43041
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	espaces	espères
Definition	Pluriel de espace.	Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de espérer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set espaces and espères apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

espaces

7 ch

espères

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espaces is \ɛs.pas\ while espères is \ɛs.pɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43041, 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\. espères is at rank #39,788, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pɛʁ\.

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 43041, this pair ranks #221,074 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espaces vs espères

Shared letters: eps. Private to "espaces": ac. Private to "espères": rè.

"espaces" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC · "espères" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

espaces ← epsaces · esapces · espacces · espacess · espacse · espaecs · espcaes · esppaces

Frequency comparison

espaces#3,253

espères#39,788

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "espaces" and "espères" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "espaces" is a noun and "espères" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "espaces" or "espères"?

"espaces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,253 in our French list, against #39,788 for "espères". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering espaces vs espères

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “espaces”; for a verb, it's “espères”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “espaces” entry
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