Which to use
“combien” is an adverb and “comblée” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #866
- “combien” frequency rank
- #28,105
- “comblée” frequency rank
- 28971
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | combien | comblée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En quelle quantité, en quel nombre. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec de, en. | Féminin singulier de comblé. |
Where the eye mixes combien and comblée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. combien (CVCCVVC) and comblée (CVCCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between combien and comblée
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: combien is \kɔ̃.bjɛ̃\ while comblée is \kɔ̃.ble\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28971, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
combien is recorded at frequency rank #866, classified as anadv, pronounced \kɔ̃.bjɛ̃\. comblée is at rank #28,105, tagged as anadj, pronounced \kɔ̃.ble\.
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 28971, this pair ranks #319,537 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of combien vs comblée
Shared letters: bcemo. Private to "combien": in. Private to "comblée": lé.
"combien" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "comblée" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- combien ← ccombien · cmobien · cobmien · combbien · combein · combienn · combine · comiben
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "combien" for "comblée" ever safe?
Which is more common, "combien" or "comblée"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "combien" and "comblée" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "combien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "comblée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #319,537 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "combien" and "comblée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "comblée vs complex". 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 #319,537 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.