Which to use
“établir” and “établit” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,498
- “établir” frequency rank
- #5,095
- “établit” frequency rank
- 7593
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | établir | établit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Asseoir et fixer une chose en un endroit, l’y rendre stable. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de établir. |
Where the eye mixes établir and établit
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. établir and établit follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between établir and établit
A purely visual mix-up. établir (\e.ta.bliʁ\) and établit (\e.ta.bli\) 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 a single letter - r in “établir” becomes t in “établit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7593, 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\. établit is at rank #5,095, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ta.bli\.
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 7593, this pair ranks #422,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of établir vs établit
Shared letters: abilté. Private to "établir": r. Private to "établit": -.
"établir" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "établit" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "établir" and "établit" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "établir" or "établit" show up more?
What to do next
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 "établit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #422,704 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "établir" and "établit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "établira vs établit". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #422,704 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.