Which to use
“étalée” and “étayée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,313
- “étalée” frequency rank
- #48,290
- “étayée” frequency rank
- 79603
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étalée | étayée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin singulier de étaler. | Participe passé féminin singulier de étayer. |
Where the eye mixes étalée and étayée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. étalée (VCVCVV) and étayée (VCVVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between étalée and étayée
A purely visual mix-up. étalée (\e.ta.le\) and étayée (\e.tɛ.je\) 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 a single letter - l in “étalée” becomes y in “étayée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79603, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étalée is recorded at frequency rank #31,313, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ta.le\. étayée is at rank #48,290, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɛ.je\.
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 79603, this pair ranks #22,883 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of étalée vs étayée
Shared letters: aeté. Private to "étalée": l. Private to "étayée": y.
"étalée" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVV · "étayée" · 6 letters · shape VCVVVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étalée" and "étayée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "étalée" vs "étayée" - which ranks higher?
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 "étalée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étayée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #22,883 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étalée" and "étayée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étalées vs étayée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #22,883 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.