Which to use
“corbeau” and “couteau” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,329
- “corbeau” frequency rank
- #3,671
- “couteau” frequency rank
- 20000
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | corbeau | couteau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom vernaculaire du grand corbeau (Corvus corax), gros oiseau passereau carnassier à plumage noir et au bec fort et noir. | Outil tranchant qui possède une arête effilée, utilisé par exemple en tant qu’arme ou pour couper la viande. |
Where the eye mixes corbeau and couteau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. corbeau (CVCCVVV) and couteau (CVVCVVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between corbeau and couteau
A purely visual mix-up. corbeau (\kɔʁ.bo\) and couteau (\ku.to\) 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 20000, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
corbeau is recorded at frequency rank #16,329, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.bo\. couteau is at rank #3,671, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.to\.
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 20000, this pair ranks #370,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of corbeau vs couteau
Shared letters: aceou. Private to "corbeau": br. Private to "couteau": t.
"corbeau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV · "couteau" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "corbeau" and "couteau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "corbeau" or "couteau" 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 "corbeau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couteau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,427 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "corbeau" and "couteau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cerceau vs corbeau". 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 #370,427 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.