couléesvscoulisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,683
“coulées” frequency rank
#43,366
“coulis” frequency rank
70049
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coulées coulis
Definition Féminin pluriel de coulé. Qui coule. N’est plus usité que dans la locution : Vent coulis : vent qui coule, qui se glisse au travers des fentes et des trous.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
coulées
6 ch
coulis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. coulées (\ku.le\) and coulis (\ku.li\) 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 70049, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coulées is recorded at frequency rank #26,683, classified as anadj, pronounced \ku.le\. coulis is at rank #43,366, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ku.li\.

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 70049, this pair ranks #52,841 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coulées vs coulis

Shared letters: closu. Private to "coulées": . Private to "coulis": i.

"coulées" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC  ·  "coulis" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coulisccoulis · coluis · couils · couliss · coullis · coulsi · cuolis · oculis

Frequency comparison

coulées#26,683
coulis#43,366

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coulées" and "coulis" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ku.le\ versus \ku.li\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "coulées" or "coulis"?
"coulées" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,683 in our French list, against #43,366 for "coulis". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coulées vs coulis

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 “coulées” 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