Which to use
“étale” is an adjective and “états” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,318
- “étale” frequency rank
- #563
- “états” frequency rank
- 17881
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étale | états |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est stationnaire. | Pluriel de état. |
Where the eye mixes étale and états
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses étale with états
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étale is \e.tal\ while états is \e.ta\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étale is recorded at frequency rank #17,318, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tal\. 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 17881, this pair ranks #381,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of étale vs états
Shared letters: até. Private to "étale": el. Private to "états": s.
"étale" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "états" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "étale" and "états" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "étale" or "états" 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 "étale" 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 #381,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étale" and "états" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étale vs étayée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #381,001 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.