Which to use
“boxes” and “boys” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,683
- “boxes” frequency rank
- #6,933
- “boys” frequency rank
- 48616
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | boxes | boys |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de boxe. | Pluriel de boy. |
Where the eye mixes boxes and boys
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: boxes vs boys
A purely visual mix-up. boxes (\bɔks\) and boys (\bɔj\) 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 48616, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
boxes is recorded at frequency rank #41,683, classified as anoun, pronounced \bɔks\. boys is at rank #6,933, tagged as anoun, pronounced \bɔj\.
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 48616, this pair ranks #177,449 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of boxes vs boys
Shared letters: bos. Private to "boxes": ex. Private to "boys": y.
"boxes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "boys" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "boxes" and "boys" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "boxes" or "boys" show up more?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "boxes" and "boys" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "boxes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "boys" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,449 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "boxes" and "boys" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "bordés vs boxes". 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 #177,449 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.