exemplevsexemptWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: exemple is a noun, exempt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“exemple” is a noun and “exempt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#336
“exemple” frequency rank
#25,647
“exempt” frequency rank
25983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exemple exempt
Definition Ce qui peut servir de modèle, ce qui peut être imité. Qui par droit, par privilège, par nature, n’est pas sujet à quelque chose ; qui n’est pas assujetti à quelque chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set exemple and exempt apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
exemple
6 ch
exempt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: exemple is \ɛɡ.zɑ̃pl\ while exempt is \ɛɡ.zɑ̃\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exemple is recorded at frequency rank #336, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛɡ.zɑ̃pl\. exempt is at rank #25,647, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ɛɡ.zɑ̃\.

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 25983, this pair ranks #337,755 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of exemple vs exempt

Shared letters: empx. Private to "exemple": l. Private to "exempt": t.

"exemple" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV  ·  "exempt" · 6 letters · shape VCVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exempleeexmple · exemlpe · exemmple · exempel · exemplle · exempple · exepmle · exmeple
  • exempteexmpt · exemmpt · exemppt · exemptt · exemtp · exepmt · exmept · exxempt

Frequency comparison

exemple#336
exempt#25,647

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exemple" and "exempt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "exemple" is a noun and "exempt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "exemple" or "exempt"?
"exemple" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #336 in our French list, against #25,647 for "exempt". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering exemple vs exempt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “exemple”; for an adjective, it's “exempt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “exemple” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list