Which to use
“espère” and “espères” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #612
- “espère” frequency rank
- #39,788
- “espères” frequency rank
- 40400
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espère | espères |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de espérer. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de espérer. |
Same sound, different letters: espère vs espères
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. espère runs 6 letters (VCCVCV) against espères's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: espère vs espères
This is the hard kind. espère and espères are pronounced identically (\ɛs.pɛʁ\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “espère” sits inside “espères”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40400, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espère is recorded at frequency rank #612, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pɛʁ\. 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 40400, this pair ranks #240,814 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of espère vs espères
Shared letters: eprsè. Private to "espère": -. Private to "espères": -.
"espère" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV · "espères" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "espère" and "espères" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "espère" or "espères"?
What to do next
You've separated the homophone pair "espère" / "espères". Follow the links when you need the full entry or a neighbour that trips the same ear.
- Full dictionary entry for "espère" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espères" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,814 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espère" and "espères" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espères vs expertes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #240,814 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.