Which to use
“bornes” and “boules” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,951
- “bornes” frequency rank
- #6,056
- “boules” frequency rank
- 12007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bornes | boules |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de borne. | Pluriel de boule. |
Where the eye mixes bornes and boules
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bornes vs boules
A purely visual mix-up. bornes (\bɔʁn\) and boules (\bul\) 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 12007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bornes is recorded at frequency rank #5,951, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔʁn\. boules is at rank #6,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bul\.
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 12007, this pair ranks #406,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of bornes vs boules
Shared letters: beos. Private to "bornes": nr. Private to "boules": lu.
"bornes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "boules" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bornes" for "boules" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bornes" vs "boules" - which ranks higher?
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 "bornes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "boules" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #406,933 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bornes" and "boules" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "boules vs bourdes". 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 #406,933 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.