Which to use
“éternité” is a noun and “étroite” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,776
- “éternité” frequency rank
- #7,266
- “étroite” frequency rank
- 15042
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | éternité | étroite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Durée qui n’a ni commencement ni fin. | Féminin singulier de étroit. |
Where the eye mixes éternité and étroite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. éternité runs 8 letters (VCVCCVCV) against étroite's 7 (VCCVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between éternité and étroite
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: éternité is \e.tɛʁ.ni.te\ while étroite is \e.tʁwat\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
éternité is recorded at frequency rank #7,776, classified as anoun, pronounced \e.tɛʁ.ni.te\. étroite is at rank #7,266, tagged as anadj, pronounced \e.tʁwat\.
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 15042, this pair ranks #394,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of éternité vs étroite
Shared letters: eirté. Private to "éternité": n. Private to "étroite": o.
"éternité" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV · "étroite" · 7 letters · shape VCCVVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "éternité" and "étroite" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "éternité" vs "étroite" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "éternité" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étroite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,108 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "éternité" and "étroite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "éterniser vs éternité". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #394,108 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.