Which to use
“core” and “corvée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,102
- “core” frequency rank
- #21,583
- “corvée” frequency rank
- 37685
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | core | corvée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Centre, noyau. | Travail et service gratuit qui était dû par le paysan à son seigneur. |
Where the eye mixes core and corvée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. core runs 4 letters (CVCV) against corvée's 6 (CVCCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses core with corvée
A purely visual mix-up. core (\kɔː\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37685, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
core is recorded at frequency rank #16,102, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔː\. 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 37685, this pair ranks #260,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of core vs corvée
Shared letters: ceor. Private to "core": -. Private to "corvée": vé.
"core" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "corvée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- core ← ccore · coer · corre · croe
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "core" and "corvée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "core" or "corvée" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "core" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "corvée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "core" and "corvée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "copiée vs corvée". 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 #260,700 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.