Which to use
“coque” and “coule” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,042
- “coque” frequency rank
- #6,283
- “coule” frequency rank
- 13325
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coque | coule |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enveloppe extérieure de l’œuf. | Manteau à larges manches porté par les religieux et religieuses. Seul celui des moines a une capuche. |
Where the eye mixes coque and coule
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coque and coule
A purely visual mix-up. coque (\kɔk\) and coule (\kul\) 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 13325, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coque is recorded at frequency rank #7,042, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔk\. coule is at rank #6,283, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kul\.
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 13325, this pair ranks #401,471 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of coque vs coule
Shared letters: ceou. Private to "coque": q. Private to "coule": l.
"coque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "coule" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coque" for "coule" ever safe?
Which is more common, "coque" or "coule"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "coque" and "coule" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "coque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coule" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,471 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coque" and "coule" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conde vs coque". 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 #401,471 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.