Which to use
“étonnants” is an adjective and “étonnent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #28,422
- “étonnants” frequency rank
- #26,590
- “étonnent” frequency rank
- 55012
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étonnants | étonnent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de étonnant. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de étonner. |
Where the eye mixes étonnants and étonnent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. étonnants runs 9 letters (VCVCCVCCC) against étonnent's 8 (VCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: étonnants vs étonnent
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étonnants is \e.tɔ.nɑ̃\ while étonnent is \e.tɔn\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55012, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étonnants is recorded at frequency rank #28,422, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tɔ.nɑ̃\. 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 55012, this pair ranks #130,214 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étonnants vs étonnent
Shared letters: noté. Private to "étonnants": as. Private to "étonnent": e.
"étonnants" · 9 letters · shape VCVCCVCCC · "étonnent" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "étonnants" and "étonnent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "étonnants" or "étonnent" show up more?
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 "étonnants" 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 #130,214 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étonnants" and "étonnent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étonnent vs étonnez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #130,214 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.