Which to use
“conseil” is a noun and “conseilles” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #352
- “conseil” frequency rank
- #39,720
- “conseilles” frequency rank
- 40072
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | conseil | conseilles |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Avis que l’on donne à quelqu’un sur ce qu’il doit faire ou ne pas faire. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de conseiller. |
Same sound, different letters: conseil vs conseilles
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. conseil runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against conseilles's 10 (CVCCVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - conseil / conseilles
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: conseil and conseilles carry the same recorded pronunciation, \kɔ̃.sɛj\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anoun, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 3 extra letter(s) - “conseil” sits inside “conseilles”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40072, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
conseil is recorded at frequency rank #352, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɛj\. conseilles is at rank #39,720, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.sɛj\.
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 40072, this pair ranks #243,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of conseil vs conseilles
Shared letters: ceilnos. Private to "conseil": -. Private to "conseilles": -.
"conseil" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "conseilles" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- conseil ← cconseil · cnoseil · conesil · connseil · conseill · conseli · consiel · consseil
- conseilles ← cconseilles · cnoseilles · conesilles · connseilles · conseilels · conseiles · conseilless · conseillse
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "conseil" for "conseilles" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "conseil" or "conseilles" show up more?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "conseil" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "conseilles" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,262 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "conseil" and "conseilles" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conseillères vs conseilles". 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 #243,262 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.