Which to use
“étais” and “exams” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #358
- “étais” frequency rank
- #33,252
- “exams” frequency rank
- 33610
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étais | exams |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de étai. | Pluriel de exam. |
Where the eye mixes étais and exams
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. étais (VCVVC) and exams (VCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: étais vs exams
A purely visual mix-up. étais (\e.tɛ\) and exams (\ɛɡ.zam\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33610, 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\. exams is at rank #33,252, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zam\.
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 33610, this pair ranks #289,473 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étais vs exams
Shared letters: as. Private to "étais": ité. Private to "exams": emx.
"étais" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "exams" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- exams ← eaxms · examms · examss · exasm · exmas · exxams · xeams
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étais" and "exams" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "étais" or "exams" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "étais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "exams" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #289,473 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étais" and "exams" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épars vs exams". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #289,473 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.