Which to use
“éternel” and “externe” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,577
- “éternel” frequency rank
- #4,576
- “externe” frequency rank
- 11153
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éternel | externe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui n’a pas eu de commencement et n’aura jamais de fin. | Qui est, qui paraît au-dehors. |
Where the eye mixes éternel and externe
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: éternel vs externe
A purely visual mix-up. éternel (\e.tɛʁ.nɛl\) and externe (\ɛks.tɛʁn\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 7 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11153, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éternel is recorded at frequency rank #6,577, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tɛʁ.nɛl\. externe is at rank #4,576, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛks.tɛʁn\.
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 11153, this pair ranks #410,276 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of éternel vs externe
Shared letters: enrt. Private to "éternel": lé. Private to "externe": x.
"éternel" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC · "externe" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- externe ← etxerne · exetrne · extenre · exteren · externne · exterrne · extrene · extterne
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "éternel" and "externe" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "éternel" or "externe"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "éternel" and "externe" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "éternel" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "externe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #410,276 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éternel" and "externe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "entérine vs externe". 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 #410,276 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.