Which to use
“companies” is a noun and “compares” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,076
- “companies” frequency rank
- #44,939
- “compares” frequency rank
- 91015
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | companies | compares |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de company. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de comparer. |
Where the eye mixes companies and compares
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. companies runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVVC) against compares's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses companies with compares
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: companies is \ˈkʌm.pə.niz\ while compares is \kɔ̃.paʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 91015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
companies is recorded at frequency rank #46,076, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈkʌm.pə.niz\. compares is at rank #44,939, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.paʁ\.
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 91015, this pair ranks #4,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of companies vs compares
Shared letters: acemops. Private to "companies": in. Private to "compares": r.
"companies" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC · "compares" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "companies" and "compares" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "companies" or "compares" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "companies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "compares" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #4,235 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "companies" and "compares" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "compares vs comptées". 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 #4,235 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.