Which to use
“étonnant” is an adjective and “étonnent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,728
- “étonnant” frequency rank
- #26,590
- “étonnent” frequency rank
- 30318
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étonnant | étonnent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui étonne, qui surprend. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de étonner. |
Letter map: étonnant vs étonnent
Shared letters muted; letters that set étonnant and étonnent apart highlighted. Shared run: 7. étonnant and étonnent follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCVCCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Role in the sentence - étonnant and étonnent
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: étonnant is anadjective and étonnentaverb. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “étonnant” becomes e in “étonnent”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30318, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étonnant is recorded at frequency rank #3,728, classified as anadj. étonnent is at rank #26,590, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɔn\.
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 30318, this pair ranks #311,167 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étonnant vs étonnent
Shared letters: noté. Private to "étonnant": a. Private to "étonnent": e.
"étonnant" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC · "étonnent" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "étonnant" for "étonnent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "étonnant" or "étonnent"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "étonnant" and "étonnent".
- Full dictionary entry for "étonnant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étonnent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #311,167 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étonnant" and "étonnent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étonnent vs étonnez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #311,167 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.