étonneravsétonnezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#32,251
“étonnera” frequency rank
#41,614
“étonnez” frequency rank
73865
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

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

Where the eye mixes étonnera and étonnez

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

8 ch
étonnera
7 ch
étonnez

Why the eye confuses étonnera with étonnez

A purely visual mix-up. étonnera (\e.tɔ.nə.ʁa\) and étonnez (\e.tɔ.ne\) 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 73865, 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\. étonnez is at rank #41,614, tagged as averb, pronounced \e.tɔ.ne\.

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 73865, this pair ranks #39,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of étonnera vs étonnez

Shared letters: enoté. Private to "étonnera": ar. Private to "étonnez": z.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "étonnera" and "étonnez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\e.tɔ.nə.ʁa\ versus \e.tɔ.ne\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "étonnera" vs "étonnez" - which ranks higher?
"étonnera" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,251 in our French list, against #41,614 for "étonnez". 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 "étonnez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,035 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "étonnera" and "étonnez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "étonnent vs étonnez". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #39,035 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