commodevscommonConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#13,752
“commode” frequency rank
#23,141
“common” frequency rank
36893
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature commode common
Definition Dont l’usage est utile et agréable. Commun.

Where the eye mixes commode and common

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
commode
6 ch
common

Look-alike desk: commode vs common

A purely visual mix-up. commode (\kɔ.mɔd\) and common (\ˈkɑ.mən\) 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 36893, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

commode is recorded at frequency rank #13,752, classified as anadj, pronounced \kɔ.mɔd\. common is at rank #23,141, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ˈkɑ.mən\.

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 36893, this pair ranks #266,381 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of commode vs common

Shared letters: cmo. Private to "commode": de. Private to "common": n.

"commode" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "common" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • commodeccommode · cmomode · commdoe · commodde · commoed · comode · comomde · ocmmode
  • commonccommon · cmomon · commno · commonn · comomn · comon · ocmmon

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "commode" for "common" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ.mɔd\ versus \ˈkɑ.mən\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "commode" vs "common" - which ranks higher?
"commode" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,752 in our French list, against #23,141 for "common". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "commode" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "common" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #266,381 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "commode" and "common" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "common vs coon". 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 #266,381 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