établirvsétabliraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“établir” and “établira” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,498
“établir” frequency rank
#39,610
“établira” frequency rank
42108
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature établir établira
Definition Asseoir et fixer une chose en un endroit, l’y rendre stable. Troisième personne du singulier du futur de établir.

Where the eye mixes établir and établira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. établir runs 7 letters (VCVCCVC) against établira's 8 (VCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
établir
8 ch
établira

Why the eye confuses établir with établira

A purely visual mix-up. établir (\e.ta.bliʁ\) and établira (\e.ta.bli.ʁa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “établir” sits inside “établira”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42108, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

établir is recorded at frequency rank #2,498, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ta.bliʁ\. établira is at rank #39,610, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ta.bli.ʁa\.

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 42108, this pair ranks #228,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of établir vs établira

Shared letters: abilrté. Private to "établir": -. Private to "établira": -.

"établir" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC  ·  "établira" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "établir" and "établira" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\e.ta.bliʁ\ versus \e.ta.bli.ʁa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "établir" or "établira"?
"établir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,498 in our French list, against #39,610 for "établira". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "établir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "établira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "établir" and "établira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "établies vs établira". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #228,170 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list