Which to use
“êtes” is a verb and “eye” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #362
- “êtes” frequency rank
- #15,623
- “eye” frequency rank
- 15985
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | êtes | eye |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de être. | Œil mais aussi œil d'une pomme de terre, d'un cyclone. |
Where the eye mixes êtes and eye
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses êtes with eye
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: êtes is \ɛt\ while eye is \ˈaɪ\. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15985, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
êtes is recorded at frequency rank #362, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛt\. eye is at rank #15,623, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈaɪ\.
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 15985, this pair ranks #389,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of êtes vs eye
Shared letters: e. Private to "êtes": stê. Private to "eye": y.
"êtes" · 4 letters · shape VCVC · "eye" · 3 letters · shape VVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "êtes" and "eye" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "êtes" vs "eye" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "êtes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "eye" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,928 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "êtes" and "eye" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "EPO vs eye". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #389,928 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.