cornesvscorvéesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#13,556
“cornes” frequency rank
#28,897
“corvées” frequency rank
42453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cornes corvées
Definition Pluriel de corne. Pluriel de corvée.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
cornes
7 ch
corvées

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cornes (\kɔʁn\) and corvées (\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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cornes is recorded at frequency rank #13,556, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁn\. corvées is at rank #28,897, 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 42453, this pair ranks #225,494 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cornes vs corvées

Shared letters: ceors. Private to "cornes": n. Private to "corvées": .

"cornes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "corvées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cornesccornes · conres · corens · corness · cornnes · cornse · corrnes · crones

Frequency comparison

cornes#13,556
corvées#28,897

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cornes" and "corvées" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\kɔʁn\ versus \kɔʁ.ve\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cornes" or "corvées"?
"cornes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,556 in our French list, against #28,897 for "corvées". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cornes vs corvées

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 “cornes” 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