Which to use
“êtes” and “étiez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #362
- “êtes” frequency rank
- #6,154
- “étiez” frequency rank
- 6516
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | êtes | étiez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de être. | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de être. |
Where the eye mixes êtes and étiez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: êtes vs étiez
A purely visual mix-up. êtes (\ɛt\) and étiez (\e.tje\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6516, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
êtes is recorded at frequency rank #362, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛt\. étiez is at rank #6,154, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tje\.
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 6516, this pair ranks #426,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of êtes vs étiez
Shared letters: et. Private to "êtes": sê. Private to "étiez": izé.
"êtes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "étiez" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "êtes" and "étiez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "êtes" or "étiez"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "êtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étiez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #426,017 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "êtes" and "étiez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs étiez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #426,017 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.