êtes vs évites, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“êtes” and “évites” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#362
“êtes” frequency rank: #31,315
“évites” frequency rank: 31677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	êtes	évites
Definition	Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de être.	Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de éviter.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set êtes and évites apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch

êtes

6 ch

évites

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. êtes (\ɛt\) and évites (\e.vit\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

êtes is recorded at frequency rank #362, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛt\. évites is at rank #31,315, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.vit\.

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 31677, this pair ranks #302,291 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of êtes vs évites

Shared letters: est. Private to "êtes": ê. Private to "évites": ivé.

"êtes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "évites" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC

Frequency comparison

êtes#362

évites#31,315

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "êtes" and "évites" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\ɛt\ versus \e.vit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "êtes" or "évites"?

"êtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #362 in our French list, against #31,315 for "évites". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering êtes vs évites

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “êtes” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable