Which to use
“étonnée” is an adjective and “étonnes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,603
- “étonnée” frequency rank
- #17,051
- “étonnes” frequency rank
- 34654
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | étonnée | étonnes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de étonné. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de étonner. |
Where the eye mixes étonnée and étonnes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. étonnée (VCVCCVV) and étonnes (VCVCCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: étonnée vs étonnes
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: étonnée is \e.tɔ.ne\ while étonnes is \e.tɔn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34654, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
étonnée is recorded at frequency rank #17,603, classified as anadj, pronounced \e.tɔ.ne\. étonnes is at rank #17,051, 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 34654, this pair ranks #282,326 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of étonnée vs étonnes
Shared letters: enoté. Private to "étonnée": -. Private to "étonnes": s.
"étonnée" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVV · "étonnes" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "étonnée" and "étonnes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "étonnée" vs "étonnes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "étonnée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étonnes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #282,326 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "étonnée" and "étonnes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "énoncée vs étonnée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #282,326 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.