Which to use
“étage” is a noun and “étalée” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,499
- “étage” frequency rank
- #31,313
- “étalée” frequency rank
- 33812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étage | étalée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espace entre deux planchers au-dessus du rez-de-chaussée dans un bâtiment. | Participe passé féminin singulier de étaler. |
Where the eye mixes étage and étalée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. étage runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against étalée's 6 (VCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses étage with étalée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étage is \e.taʒ\ while étalée is \e.ta.le\. 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 33812, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étage is recorded at frequency rank #2,499, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.taʒ\. étalée is at rank #31,313, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.ta.le\.
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 33812, this pair ranks #288,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étage vs étalée
Shared letters: aeté. Private to "étage": g. Private to "étalée": l.
"étage" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "étalée" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étage" and "étalée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "étage" vs "étalée" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "étage" and "étalée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "étage" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étalée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étage" and "étalée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étalée vs étayée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #288,108 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.