Which to use
“étage” and “états” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,499
- “étage” frequency rank
- #563
- “états” frequency rank
- 3062
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étage | états |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espace entre deux planchers au-dessus du rez-de-chaussée dans un bâtiment. | Pluriel de état. |
Where the eye mixes étage and états
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses étage with états
A purely visual mix-up. étage (\e.taʒ\) and états (\e.ta\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3062, 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\. états is at rank #563, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.ta\.
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 3062, this pair ranks #434,872 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étage vs états
Shared letters: até. Private to "étage": eg. Private to "états": s.
"étage" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "états" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "étage" for "états" ever safe?
Frequency check: "étage" vs "états" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "étage" and "états" 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 "états" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #434,872 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étage" and "états" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étage vs étayée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #434,872 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.