corbeauxvscoteauxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“corbeaux” and “coteaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,895
“corbeaux” frequency rank
#21,279
“coteaux” frequency rank
43174
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature corbeaux coteaux
Definition Pluriel de corbeau. Pluriel de coteau.

Where the eye mixes corbeaux and coteaux

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. corbeaux runs 8 letters (CVCCVVVC) against coteaux's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
corbeaux
7 ch
coteaux

Why the eye confuses corbeaux with coteaux

A purely visual mix-up. corbeaux (\kɔʁ.bo\) and coteaux (\kɔ.to\) 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 43174, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

corbeaux is recorded at frequency rank #21,895, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.bo\. coteaux is at rank #21,279, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔ.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 43174, this pair ranks #220,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of corbeaux vs coteaux

Shared letters: aceoux. Private to "corbeaux": br. Private to "coteaux": t.

"corbeaux" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC  ·  "coteaux" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • corbeauxccorbeaux · cobreaux · corbaeux · corbbeaux · corbeauxx · corbeaxu · corbeuax · corebaux
  • coteauxccoteaux · coetaux · cotaeux · coteauxx · coteaxu · coteuax · cotteaux · ctoeaux

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "corbeaux" for "coteaux" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\kɔʁ.bo\ versus \kɔ.to\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "corbeaux" or "coteaux"?
"coteaux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,279 in our French list, against #21,895 for "corbeaux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "corbeaux" and "coteaux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "corbeaux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "coteaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #220,092 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "corbeaux" and "coteaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Comeau vs coteaux". 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 #220,092 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list