Which to use
“controle” and “contrôler” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,340
- “controle” frequency rank
- #2,991
- “contrôler” frequency rank
- 18331
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | controle | contrôler |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de controlar. | Vérifier la conformité, la régularité ou l'exactitude. |
Where the eye mixes controle and contrôler
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. controle runs 8 letters (CVCCCVCV) against contrôler's 9 (CVCCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: controle vs contrôler
A purely visual mix-up. controle (\konˈtɾo.le\) and contrôler (\kɔ̃.tʁo.le\) 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 18331, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
controle is recorded at frequency rank #15,340, classified as averb, pronounced \konˈtɾo.le\. contrôler is at rank #2,991, tagged as averb, pronounced \kɔ̃.tʁo.le\.
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 18331, this pair ranks #378,872 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of controle vs contrôler
Shared letters: celnort. Private to "controle": -. Private to "contrôler": ô.
"controle" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVCV · "contrôler" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- controle ← ccontrole · cnotrole · conntrole · conrtole · contorle · contrloe · controel · controlle
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "controle" for "contrôler" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "controle" or "contrôler" 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 "controle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "contrôler" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #378,872 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "controle" and "contrôler" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "controle vs controller". 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 #378,872 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.