Which to use
“été” is a noun and “ever” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #65
- “été” frequency rank
- #16,615
- “ever” frequency rank
- 16680
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | été | ever |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | La plus chaude des quatre saisons de l’année. Dans l’hémisphère nord, l’été astronomique s’étend du 7 mai au 7 août, le solstice d’été représentant le milieu de l’été. L’été météorologique, qui comprend les mois les plus chauds de l’année, comprend les mois de juin, juillet et août. L’été calendaire français, enfin, s’étend du 21 juin (solstice d’été) au 22 septembre (équinoxe d’automne). Dans l’hémisphère sud, ce découpage correspond à la saison d’hiver. | De tous temps, toujours. |
Where the eye mixes été and ever
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. No shared run - shape, not overlap, is the trap.
Why the eye confuses été with ever
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: été is \e.te\ while ever is \ˈɛv.ɚ\. 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 (noun vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16680, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
été is recorded at frequency rank #65, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.te\. ever is at rank #16,615, tagged as anadv, pronounced \ˈɛv.ɚ\.
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 16680, this pair ranks #386,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of été vs ever
Shared letters: none. Private to "été": té. Private to "ever": erv.
"été" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ever" · 4 letters · shape VCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ever ← eevr · everr · evre · evver · veer
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "été" for "ever" ever safe?
Which is more common, "été" or "ever"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "été" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ever" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #386,741 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "été" and "ever" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs ever". 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 #386,741 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.