canoëvscaseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#20,381
“canoë” frequency rank
#4,916
“case” frequency rank
25297
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature canoë case
Definition Sorte de pirogue originaire des peuples d’Amérique du nord dans laquelle un ou plusieurs utilisateurs propulsent le bateau à l’aide d’une pagaie à une pale. Petite habitation traditionnelle, sous les tropiques.

Where the eye mixes canoë and case

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

5 ch
canoë
4 ch
case

Look-alike desk: canoë vs case

A purely visual mix-up. canoë (\ka.nɔ.e\) and case (\kaz\) 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 25297, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

canoë is recorded at frequency rank #20,381, classified as anoun, pronounced \ka.nɔ.e\. case is at rank #4,916, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kaz\.

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 25297, this pair ranks #341,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of canoë vs case

Shared letters: ac. Private to "canoë": noë. Private to "case": es.

"canoë" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "case" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caseacse · caes · ccase · csae

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "canoë" and "case" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ka.nɔ.e\ versus \kaz\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "canoë" or "case" show up more?
"case" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,916 in our French list, against #20,381 for "canoë". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "canoë" and "case" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "canoë" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "case" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #341,660 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "canoë" and "case" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "canoë vs conde". 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 #341,660 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