bordéesvsbourréesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#33,148
“bordées” frequency rank
#44,336
“bourrées” frequency rank
77484
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature bordées bourrées
Definition Féminin pluriel de bordé. Féminin pluriel de bourré.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bordées and bourrées apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
bordées
8 ch
bourrées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. bordées (\bɔʁ.de\) and bourrées (\bu.ʁe\) 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 77484, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bordées is recorded at frequency rank #33,148, classified as anadj, pronounced \bɔʁ.de\. bourrées is at rank #44,336, tagged as anadj, pronounced \bu.ʁe\.

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 77484, this pair ranks #28,221 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of bordées vs bourrées

Shared letters: beorsé. Private to "bordées": d. Private to "bourrées": u.

"bordées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC  ·  "bourrées" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

bordées#33,148
bourrées#44,336

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bordées" and "bourrées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\bɔʁ.de\ versus \bu.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "bordées" or "bourrées"?
"bordées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #33,148 in our French list, against #44,336 for "bourrées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bordées vs bourrées

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 “bordées” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list