coevscoqueConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#34,469
“coe” frequency rank
#7,042
“coque” frequency rank
41511
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coe coque
Definition Queue. Enveloppe extérieure de l’œuf.

Letter map: coe vs coque

Shared letters muted; letters that set coe and coque apart highlighted. Shared run: 3.

3 ch
coe
5 ch
coque

Corpus notes: coe and coque

coe and coque are indexed as a confusable French pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41511, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coe is recorded at frequency rank #34,469, classified as anoun. coque is at rank #7,042, 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 41511, this pair ranks #232,555 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coe vs coque

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "coe": -. Private to "coque": qu.

"coe" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "coque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coqueccoque · coqeu · coqque · couqe · cqoue · ocque

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "coe" for "coque" ever safe?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Frequency check: "coe" vs "coque" - which ranks higher?
"coque" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,042 in our French list, against #34,469 for "coe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "coe" and "coque".

  • Full dictionary entry for "coe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #232,555 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coe" and "coque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coe 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 #232,555 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