Which to use
“corvée” and “coulée” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #21,583
- “corvée” frequency rank
- #18,972
- “coulée” frequency rank
- 40555
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | corvée | coulée |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Travail et service gratuit qui était dû par le paysan à son seigneur. | Action de s’écouler ; résultat de cette action. |
Where the eye mixes corvée and coulée
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. corvée (CVCCVV) and coulée (CVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses corvée with coulée
A purely visual mix-up. corvée (\kɔʁ.ve\) and coulée (\ku.le\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40555, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
corvée is recorded at frequency rank #21,583, classified as anoun, pronounced \kɔʁ.ve\. coulée is at rank #18,972, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ku.le\.
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 40555, this pair ranks #239,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of corvée vs coulée
Shared letters: ceoé. Private to "corvée": rv. Private to "coulée": lu.
"corvée" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "coulée" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "corvée" and "coulée" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "corvée" or "coulée"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "corvée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "coulée" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #239,624 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "corvée" and "coulée" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "copiée vs corvée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #239,624 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.