Which to use
“étais” and “étangs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #358
- “étais” frequency rank
- #19,723
- “étangs” frequency rank
- 20081
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étais | étangs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de étai. | Pluriel de étang. |
Where the eye mixes étais and étangs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. étais runs 5 letters (VCVVC) against étangs's 6 (VCVCCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: étais vs étangs
A purely visual mix-up. étais (\e.tɛ\) and étangs (\e.tɑ̃\) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étais is recorded at frequency rank #358, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.tɛ\. étangs is at rank #19,723, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tɑ̃\.
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 20081, this pair ranks #370,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étais vs étangs
Shared letters: asté. Private to "étais": i. Private to "étangs": gn.
"étais" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "étangs" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "étais" for "étangs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "étais" vs "étangs" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "étais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étangs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étais" and "étangs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étals vs étangs". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #370,039 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.