cordéevscorvéeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,693
“cordée” frequency rank
#21,583
“corvée” frequency rank
62276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cordée corvée
Definition Ce qui peut être entouré d'une corde. Travail et service gratuit qui était dû par le paysan à son seigneur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cordée and corvée apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
cordée
6 ch
corvée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cordée (\kɔʁ.de\) and corvée (\kɔʁ.ve\) 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 a single letter - d in “cordée” becomes v in “corvée”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62276, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cordée is recorded at frequency rank #40,693, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.de\. corvée is at rank #21,583, tagged as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.ve\.

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 62276, this pair ranks #87,948 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of cordée vs corvée

Shared letters: ceoré. Private to "cordée": d. Private to "corvée": v.

"cordée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "corvée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

cordée#40,693
corvée#21,583

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cordée" and "corvée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔʁ.de\ versus \kɔʁ.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cordée" or "corvée"?
"corvée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,583 in our French list, against #40,693 for "cordée". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cordée vs corvée

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cordée” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list