Which to use
“consigne” is a noun and “consigner” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,539
- “consigne” frequency rank
- #47,247
- “consigner” frequency rank
- 59786
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | consigne | consigner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ordre, instruction que l’on donne à une sentinelle, à un soldat. | Déposer une somme entre les mains de quelqu’un, pour qu’elle soit délivrée en temps et lieu à qui il appartiendra. |
Where the eye mixes consigne and consigner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. consigne runs 8 letters (CVCCVCCV) against consigner's 9 (CVCCVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses consigne with consigner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: consigne is \kɔ̃.siɲ\ while consigner is \kɔ̃.si.ɲe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “consigne” sits inside “consigner”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59786, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
consigne is recorded at frequency rank #12,539, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔ̃.siɲ\. consigner is at rank #47,247, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.si.ɲe\.
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 59786, this pair ranks #101,189 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of consigne vs consigner
Shared letters: ceginos. Private to "consigne": -. Private to "consigner": r.
"consigne" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "consigner" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "consigne" and "consigner" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "consigne" or "consigner" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "consigne" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "consigner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #101,189 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "consigne" and "consigner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "confiner vs consigner". 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 #101,189 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.