Which to use
“Est” and “été” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8
- “Est” frequency rank
- #65
- “été” frequency rank
- 73
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Est | été |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Région située à l’est (en particulier à l’est d’un pays), le contexte permettant de comprendre de quelle région il s’agit. | La plus chaude des quatre saisons de l’année. Dans l’hémisphère nord, l’été astronomique s’étend du 7 mai au 7 août, le solstice d’été représentant le milieu de l’été. L’été météorologique, qui comprend les mois les plus chauds de l’année, comprend les mois de juin, juillet et août. L’été calendaire français, enfin, s’étend du 21 juin (solstice d’été) au 22 septembre (équinoxe d’automne). Dans l’hémisphère sud, ce découpage correspond à la saison d’hiver. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Est and été apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Est and été form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Est is recorded at frequency rank #8, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛst\. été is at rank #65, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.te\.
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 73, this pair ranks #440,132 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "Est" and "été" be used interchangeably?
Remembering Est vs été
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Est” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable