étaléevsétayéeWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set étalée and étayée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
étalée
6 ch
étayée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

Frequency comparison

étalée#31,313
étayée#48,290

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "étalée" and "étayée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.ta.le\ versus \e.tɛ.je\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "étalée" or "étayée"?
"étalée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,313 in our French list, against #48,290 for "étayée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering étalée vs étayée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “étalée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list