Which to use
“explique” and “expliquer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #941
- “explique” frequency rank
- #1,112
- “expliquer” frequency rank
- 2053
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | explique | expliquer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent du verbe expliquer. | Rendre clair ; faire comprendre. |
Where the eye mixes explique and expliquer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between explique and expliquer
A purely visual mix-up. explique (\ɛk.splik\) and expliquer (\ɛks.pli.ke\) 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 extra letter(s) - “explique” sits inside “expliquer”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
explique is recorded at frequency rank #941, classified as averb, pronounced \ɛk.splik\. expliquer is at rank #1,112, tagged as averb, pronounced \ɛks.pli.ke\.
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 2053, this pair ranks #436,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of explique vs expliquer
Shared letters: eilpqux. Private to "explique": -. Private to "expliquer": r.
"explique" · 8 letters · shape VCCCVCVV · "expliquer" · 9 letters · shape VCCCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "explique" and "expliquer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "explique" or "expliquer"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "explique" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "expliquer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #436,856 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "explique" and "expliquer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "expliquées vs expliquer". 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 #436,856 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.