Which to use
“évite” and “excite” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,096
- “évite” frequency rank
- #13,786
- “excite” frequency rank
- 18882
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | évite | excite |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de éviter. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de exciter. |
Where the eye mixes évite and excite
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses évite with excite
A purely visual mix-up. évite (\e.vit\) and excite (\ɛk.sit\) 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 18882, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
évite is recorded at frequency rank #5,096, classified as averb, pronounced \e.vit\. excite is at rank #13,786, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛk.sit\.
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 18882, this pair ranks #376,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of évite vs excite
Shared letters: eit. Private to "évite": vé. Private to "excite": cx.
"évite" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "excite" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- excite ← ecxite · exccite · exciet · excitte · exctie · exicte · exxcite · xecite
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "évite" and "excite" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "évite" or "excite" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "évite" and "excite" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "évite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "excite" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #376,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "évite" and "excite" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "excite vs excitent". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #376,116 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.