Which to use
“colonnes” and “consonnes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,844
- “colonnes” frequency rank
- #28,113
- “consonnes” frequency rank
- 33957
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | colonnes | consonnes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Figure de jonglerie où les balles sont lancées verticalement. | Pluriel de consonne. |
Where the eye mixes colonnes and consonnes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. colonnes runs 8 letters (CVCVCCVC) against consonnes's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: colonnes vs consonnes
A purely visual mix-up. colonnes (\kɔ.lɔn\) and consonnes (\kɔ̃.sɔn\) 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 33957, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
colonnes is recorded at frequency rank #5,844, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.lɔn\. consonnes is at rank #28,113, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɔn\.
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 33957, this pair ranks #287,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of colonnes vs consonnes
Shared letters: cenos. Private to "colonnes": l. Private to "consonnes": -.
"colonnes" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVC · "consonnes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "colonnes" for "consonnes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "colonnes" or "consonnes"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "colonnes" and "consonnes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "colonnes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "consonnes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #287,113 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "colonnes" and "consonnes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "consignés vs consonnes". 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 #287,113 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.