établievsétablirWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: établie is a noun, établir is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“établie” is a noun and “établir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,094
“établie” frequency rank
#2,498
“établir” frequency rank
7592
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature établie établir
Definition Militante révolutionnaire qui s’installe comme ouvrière d'usine pour mener des luttes syndicales. Asseoir et fixer une chose en un endroit, l’y rendre stable.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set établie and établir apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
établie
7 ch
établir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

établie and établir form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by a single letter - e in “établie” becomes r in “établir” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7592, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

établie is recorded at frequency rank #5,094, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.ta.bli\. établir is at rank #2,498, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ta.bliʁ\.

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 7592, this pair ranks #422,711 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

établie#5,094
établir#2,498

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "établie" and "établir" be used interchangeably?
No, "établie" and "établir" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering établie vs établir

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “établie”; for a verb, it's “établir”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “établie” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list