Which to use
“étirer” and “expirer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,030
- “étirer” frequency rank
- #40,261
- “expirer” frequency rank
- 68291
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étirer | expirer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Étendre, allonger. | Rendre le dernier soupir. |
Where the eye mixes étirer and expirer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. étirer runs 6 letters (VCVCVC) against expirer's 7 (VCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: étirer vs expirer
A purely visual mix-up. étirer (\e.ti.ʁe\) and expirer (\ɛks.pi.ʁe\) 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 68291, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étirer is recorded at frequency rank #28,030, classified as averb, pronounced \e.ti.ʁe\. expirer is at rank #40,261, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛks.pi.ʁe\.
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 68291, this pair ranks #59,759 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of étirer vs expirer
Shared letters: eir. Private to "étirer": té. Private to "expirer": px.
"étirer" · 6 letters · shape VCVCVC · "expirer" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- expirer ← epxirer · exiprer · expierr · expirerr · expirrer · exppirer · exprier · exxpirer
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "étirer" and "expirer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "étirer" or "expirer"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "étirer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expirer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,759 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étirer" and "expirer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "épier vs expirer". 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 #59,759 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.