Which to use
“étalées” is a verb and “étapes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #44,277
- “étalées” frequency rank
- #3,655
- “étapes” frequency rank
- 47932
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étalées | étapes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé féminin pluriel de étaler. | Pluriel de étape. |
Where the eye mixes étalées and étapes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. étalées runs 7 letters (VCVCVVC) against étapes's 6 (VCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses étalées with étapes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étalées is \e.ta.le\ while étapes is \e.tap\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47932, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étalées is recorded at frequency rank #44,277, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ta.le\. étapes is at rank #3,655, tagged as anoun, pronounced \e.tap\.
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 47932, this pair ranks #183,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étalées vs étapes
Shared letters: aesté. Private to "étalées": l. Private to "étapes": p.
"étalées" · 7 letters · shape VCVCVVC · "étapes" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étalées" and "étapes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "étalées" or "étapes"?
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 "étalées" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étapes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #183,001 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étalées" and "étapes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étalées vs étayée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #183,001 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.