compagnesvscompagnieWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,292
“compagnes” frequency rank
#751
“compagnie” frequency rank
30043
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature compagnes compagnie
Definition Pluriel de compagne. Réunion de plusieurs personnes assemblées pour le plaisir d’être en société.

Where the eye mixes compagnes and compagnie

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. compagnes (CVCCVCCVC) and compagnie (CVCCVCCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
compagnes
9 ch
compagnie

Why the eye confuses compagnes with compagnie

A purely visual mix-up. compagnes (\kɔ̃.paɲ\) and compagnie (\kɔ̃.pa.ɲi\) 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 30043, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

compagnes is recorded at frequency rank #29,292, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.paɲ\. compagnie is at rank #751, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.pa.ɲi\.

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 30043, this pair ranks #312,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of compagnes vs compagnie

Shared letters: acegmnop. Private to "compagnes": s. Private to "compagnie": i.

"compagnes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "compagnie" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • compagnes ← ccompagnes · cmopagnes · comapgnes · commpagnes · compagens · compaggnes · compagness · compagnnes
  • compagnie ← ccompagnie · cmopagnie · comapgnie · commpagnie · compaggnie · compagine · compagnei · compagnnie

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "compagnes" and "compagnie" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔ̃.paɲ\ versus \kɔ̃.pa.ɲi\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "compagnes" vs "compagnie" - which ranks higher?
"compagnie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #751 in our French list, against #29,292 for "compagnes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "compagnes" and "compagnie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "compagnes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "compagnie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #312,835 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "compagnes" and "compagnie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compagnes vs comptines". 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 #312,835 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