argilevsarticleConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,991
“argile” frequency rank
#325
“article” frequency rank
11316
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature argile article
Definition Minéral se présentant sous la forme d’une poudre souvent très fine. Avec de l’eau elle forme une terre douce au toucher, malléable et plastique → voir minéral argileux. Elle est composée principalement de silicates et d’aluminosilicates. Elle est généralement blanchâtre, mais peut être teintée par des sels métalliques (rouge, orange, vert, etc.). Phalange de la main ou du pied.

Where the eye mixes argile and article

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
argile
7 ch
article

Look-alike desk: argile vs article

A purely visual mix-up. argile (\aʁ.ʒil\) and article (\aʁ.tikl\) 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 11316, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

argile is recorded at frequency rank #10,991, classified as anoun, pronounced \aʁ.ʒil\. article is at rank #325, tagged as anoun, pronounced \aʁ.tikl\.

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 11316, this pair ranks #409,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of argile vs article

Shared letters: aeilr. Private to "argile": g. Private to "article": ct.

"argile" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "article" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • argileagrile · arggile · argiel · argille · arglie · arigle · arrgile · ragile
  • articlearitcle · arrticle · artcile · articcle · articel · articlle · artilce · artticle

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "argile" for "article" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\aʁ.ʒil\ versus \aʁ.tikl\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "argile" vs "article" - which ranks higher?
"article" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #325 in our French list, against #10,991 for "argile". 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 "argile" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "article" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #409,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "argile" and "article" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "argile vs argilo". 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 #409,621 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