exemplevsexemptsConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#336
“exemple” frequency rank
#39,792
“exempts” frequency rank
40128
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exemple exempts
Definition Ce qui peut servir de modèle, ce qui peut être imité. Masculin pluriel de exempt.

Where the eye mixes exemple and exempts

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. exemple (VCVCCCV) and exempts (VCVCCCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
exemple
7 ch
exempts

Look-alike desk: exemple vs exempts

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: exemple is \ɛɡ.zɑ̃pl\ while exempts is \ɛɡ.zɑ̃\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40128, 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\. exempts is at rank #39,792, 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 40128, this pair ranks #242,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exemple vs exempts

Shared letters: empx. Private to "exemple": l. Private to "exempts": st.

"exemple" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCV  ·  "exempts" · 7 letters · shape VCVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exemple ← eexmple · exemlpe · exemmple · exempel · exemplle · exempple · exepmle · exmeple
  • exempts ← eexmpts · exemmpts · exemppts · exempst · exemptss · exemptts · exemtps · exepmts

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "exemple" and "exempts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "exemple" is a noun and "exempts" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "exemple" or "exempts"?
"exemple" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #336 in our French list, against #39,792 for "exempts". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "exemple" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exempts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #242,825 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exemple" and "exempts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exemptés vs exempts". 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 #242,825 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