chèquesvscoquesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#10,841
“chèques” frequency rank
#16,585
“coques” frequency rank
27426
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature chèques coques
Definition Pluriel de chèque. Pluriel de coque.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set chèques and coques apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
chèques
6 ch
coques

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. chèques (\ʃɛk\) and coques (\kɔk\) 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 27426, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

chèques is recorded at frequency rank #10,841, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʃɛk\. coques is at rank #16,585, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔk\.

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 27426, this pair ranks #329,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of chèques vs coques

Shared letters: ceqsu. Private to "chèques": . Private to "coques": o.

"chèques" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC  ·  "coques" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coquesccoques · coqeus · coqques · coquess · coquse · couqes · cqoues · ocques

Frequency comparison

chèques#10,841
coques#16,585

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "chèques" and "coques" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʃɛk\ versus \kɔk\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "chèques" or "coques"?
"chèques" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,841 in our French list, against #16,585 for "coques". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering chèques vs coques

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 “chèques” 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