coffrevscoffretsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#5,534
“coffre” frequency rank
#29,286
“coffrets” frequency rank
34820
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coffre coffrets
Definition Meuble en forme de caisse, en bois ou en métal, propre à enfermer diverses choses. Pluriel de coffret.

Where the eye mixes coffre and coffrets

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

6 ch
coffre
8 ch
coffrets

Why the eye confuses coffre with coffrets

A purely visual mix-up. coffre (\kɔfʁ\) and coffrets (\kɔ.fʁɛ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “coffre” sits inside “coffrets”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34820, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coffre is recorded at frequency rank #5,534, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔfʁ\. coffrets is at rank #29,286, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.fʁɛ\.

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 34820, this pair ranks #281,101 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of coffre vs coffrets

Shared letters: cefor. Private to "coffre": -. Private to "coffrets": st.

"coffre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "coffrets" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coffreccoffre · cfofre · coffer · coffrre · cofre · cofrfe · ocffre
  • coffretsccoffrets · cfofrets · cofferts · coffrest · coffretss · coffretts · coffrrets · coffrtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "coffre" for "coffrets" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔfʁ\ versus \kɔ.fʁɛ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "coffre" vs "coffrets" - which ranks higher?
"coffre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,534 in our French list, against #29,286 for "coffrets". 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 "coffre" and "coffrets" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "coffre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coffrets" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #281,101 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "coffre" and "coffrets" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coffre vs courre". 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 #281,101 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