aboisvsabordWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#34,382
“abois” frequency rank
#525
“abord” frequency rank
34907
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature abois abord
Definition Pluriel d’aboi. Action d’arriver au bord, de toucher le rivage.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set abois and abord apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
abois
5 ch
abord

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. abois (\a.bwa\) and abord (\a.bɔʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34907, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

abois is recorded at frequency rank #34,382, classified as anoun, pronounced \a.bwa\. abord is at rank #525, tagged as anoun, pronounced \a.bɔʁ\.

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 34907, this pair ranks #280,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of abois vs abord

Shared letters: abo. Private to "abois": is. Private to "abord": dr.

"abois" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC  ·  "abord" · 5 letters · shape VCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • aboisabbois · abios · aboiss · abosi · aobis · baois
  • abordabbord · abodr · abordd · aborrd · abrod · aobrd · baord

Frequency comparison

abois#34,382
abord#525

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "abois" and "abord" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\a.bwa\ versus \a.bɔʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "abois" or "abord"?
"abord" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #525 in our French list, against #34,382 for "abois". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering abois vs abord

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “abois” 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