Which to use
“bourde” and “bourgs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,858
- “bourde” frequency rank
- #28,078
- “bourgs” frequency rank
- 56936
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | bourde | bourgs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bobard, histoire inventé(e) pour amuser. | Pluriel de bourg. |
Where the eye mixes bourde and bourgs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: bourde vs bourgs
A purely visual mix-up. bourde (\buʁd\) and bourgs (\buʁ\) 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 56936, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
bourde is recorded at frequency rank #28,858, classified as anoun, pronounced \buʁd\. bourgs is at rank #28,078, tagged as anoun, pronounced \buʁ\.
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 56936, this pair ranks #118,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of bourde vs bourgs
Shared letters: boru. Private to "bourde": de. Private to "bourgs": gs.
"bourde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "bourgs" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "bourde" for "bourgs" ever safe?
Frequency check: "bourde" vs "bourgs" - which ranks higher?
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 "bourde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "bourgs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #118,043 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "bourde" and "bourgs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bourde 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 #118,043 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.