blocvsbobConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,609
“bloc” frequency rank
#3,662
“bob” frequency rank
6271
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bloc bob
Definition Masse, gros morceau d’une matière pesante et dure, telle que la pierre, le marbre, le fer non encore travaillés. Sorte de chapeau mou, souvent publicitaire.

Where the eye mixes bloc and bob

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
bloc
3 ch
bob

Look-alike desk: bloc vs bob

A purely visual mix-up. bloc (\blɔk\) and bob (\bɔb\) 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 6271, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bloc is recorded at frequency rank #2,609, classified as anoun, pronounced \blɔk\. bob is at rank #3,662, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɔb\.

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 6271, this pair ranks #426,692 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of bloc vs bob

Shared letters: bo. Private to "bloc": cl. Private to "bob": -.

"bloc" · 4 letters · shape CCVC  ·  "bob" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • blocbbloc · blco · blloc · blocc · bolc · lboc

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bloc" and "bob" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\blɔk\ versus \bɔb\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "bloc" or "bob" show up more?
"bloc" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,609 in our French list, against #3,662 for "bob". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "bloc" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "bob" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #426,692 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "bloc" and "bob" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bob vs bold". 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 #426,692 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