Which to use
“combes” and “copies” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #29,288
- “combes” frequency rank
- #7,041
- “copies” frequency rank
- 36329
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | combes | copies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de combe. | Pluriel de copie. |
Where the eye mixes combes and copies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses combes with copies
A purely visual mix-up. combes (\kɔ̃b\) and copies (\kɔ.pi\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36329, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
combes is recorded at frequency rank #29,288, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃b\. copies is at rank #7,041, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.pi\.
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 36329, this pair ranks #270,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of combes vs copies
Shared letters: ceos. Private to "combes": bm. Private to "copies": ip.
"combes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "copies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "combes" and "copies" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "combes" vs "copies" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "combes" and "copies" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "combes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "copies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #270,371 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "combes" and "copies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "combes vs compos". 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 #270,371 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.