Which to use
“espérons” is a verb and “espions” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,035
- “espérons” frequency rank
- #13,167
- “espions” frequency rank
- 18202
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espérons | espions |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de espérer. | Pluriel d’espion. |
Where the eye mixes espérons and espions
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. espérons runs 8 letters (VCCVCVCC) against espions's 7 (VCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between espérons and espions
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espérons is \ɛs.pe.ʁɔ̃\ while espions is \ɛs.pjɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18202, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espérons is recorded at frequency rank #5,035, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛs.pe.ʁɔ̃\. espions is at rank #13,167, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pjɔ̃\.
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 18202, this pair ranks #379,494 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of espérons vs espions
Shared letters: enops. Private to "espérons": ré. Private to "espions": i.
"espérons" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCC · "espions" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- espions ← epsions · esipons · espinos · espionns · espionss · espiosn · espoins · esppions
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "espérons" and "espions" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "espérons" or "espions" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "espérons" and "espions" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "espérons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espions" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #379,494 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espérons" and "espions" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espérions vs espions". 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 #379,494 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.