étonneravsétonnesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“étonnera” and “étonnes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#32,251
“étonnera” frequency rank
#17,051
“étonnes” frequency rank
49302
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature étonnera étonnes
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du futur de étonner. Deuxième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de étonner.

Where the eye mixes étonnera and étonnes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. étonnera runs 8 letters (VCVCCVCV) against étonnes's 7 (VCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
étonnera
7 ch
étonnes

Why the eye confuses étonnera with étonnes

A purely visual mix-up. étonnera (\e.tɔ.nə.ʁa\) and étonnes (\e.tɔn\) 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 49302, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

étonnera is recorded at frequency rank #32,251, classified as averb, pronounced \e.tɔ.nə.ʁa\. 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 49302, this pair ranks #171,794 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of étonnera vs étonnes

Shared letters: enoté. Private to "étonnera": ar. Private to "étonnes": s.

"étonnera" · 8 letters · shape VCVCCVCV  ·  "étonnes" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "étonnera" and "étonnes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.tɔ.nə.ʁa\ versus \e.tɔn\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "étonnera" or "étonnes"?
"étonnes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,051 in our French list, against #32,251 for "étonnera". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "étonnera" 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 #171,794 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "étonnera" and "étonnes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étonnera vs étonnez". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #171,794 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list