cordesvscorteWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#6,282
“cordes” frequency rank
#27,386
“corte” frequency rank
33668
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cordes corte
Definition Pluriel de corde. Cour.

Where the eye mixes cordes and corte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cordes
5 ch
corte

Look-alike desk: cordes vs corte

A purely visual mix-up. cordes (\kɔʁd\) and corte (\ˈkɔr.te\) 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 33668, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cordes is recorded at frequency rank #6,282, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁd\. corte is at rank #27,386, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈkɔr.te\.

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 33668, this pair ranks #289,095 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cordes vs corte

Shared letters: ceor. Private to "cordes": ds. Private to "corte": t.

"cordes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "corte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cordesccordes · codres · corddes · cordess · cordse · coreds · corrdes · crodes
  • corteccorte · coret · corrte · cotre · ocrte

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cordes" and "corte" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔʁd\ versus \ˈkɔr.te\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cordes" vs "corte" - which ranks higher?
"cordes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,282 in our French list, against #27,386 for "corte". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "cordes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "corte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #289,095 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cordes" and "corte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "conde vs corte". 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 #289,095 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