Which to use
“essai” is a noun and “essaye” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,277
- “essai” frequency rank
- #2,174
- “essaye” frequency rank
- 4451
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | essai | essaye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Test, examen, épreuve de solidité, de pérennité, d’adéquation, de potabilité, de comestibilité, etc. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de essayer. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set essai and essaye apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: essai is \e.sɛ\ while essaye is \e.sɛj\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
essai is recorded at frequency rank #2,277, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.sɛ\. essaye is at rank #2,174, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.sɛj\.
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 4451, this pair ranks #431,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of essai vs essaye
Shared letters: aes. Private to "essai": i. Private to "essaye": y.
"essai" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "essaye" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "essai" and "essaye" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "essai" or "essaye"?
Remembering essai vs essaye
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “essai”; for a verb, it's “essaye”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “essai” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable