Which to use
“combien” is an adverb and “combles” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #866
- “combien” frequency rank
- #25,936
- “combles” frequency rank
- 26802
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | combien | combles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | En quelle quantité, en quel nombre. Note d’usage : Utilisé avec de, en. | Logements situés immédiatement sous le toit d’un édifice. |
Where the eye mixes combien and combles
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between combien and combles
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: combien is \kɔ̃.bjɛ̃\ while combles is \kɔ̃bl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26802, 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\. combles is at rank #25,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃bl\.
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 26802, this pair ranks #332,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of combien vs combles
Shared letters: bcemo. Private to "combien": in. Private to "combles": ls.
"combien" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "combles" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "combien" and "combles" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "combien" or "combles"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "combien" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "combles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #332,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "combien" and "combles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "combles 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 #332,780 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.