Which to use
“espoir” and “esprit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,563
- “espoir” frequency rank
- #611
- “esprit” frequency rank
- 2174
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espoir | esprit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fait d’espérer quelque chose. — Note d’usage : Pour ce sens, ce mot est rare au pluriel ; on le dit pourtant quelquefois dans la poésie et dans le style soutenu. | Substance incorporelle et immatérielle. |
Where the eye mixes espoir and esprit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. espoir (VCCVVC) and esprit (VCCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: espoir vs esprit
A purely visual mix-up. espoir (\ɛs.pwaʁ\) and esprit (\ɛs.pʁi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espoir is recorded at frequency rank #1,563, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pwaʁ\. esprit is at rank #611, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛs.pʁi\.
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 2174, this pair ranks #436,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of espoir vs esprit
Shared letters: eiprs. Private to "espoir": o. Private to "esprit": t.
"espoir" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVC · "esprit" · 6 letters · shape VCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espoir" for "esprit" ever safe?
Which is more common, "espoir" or "esprit"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "espoir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esprit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #436,639 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espoir" and "esprit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "emplit vs esprit". 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 #436,639 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.