doublementvsdoucementWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,767
“doublement” frequency rank
#3,673
“doucement” frequency rank
16440
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature doublement doucement
Definition De deux manières, à un degré double. D’une manière douce.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set doublement and doucement apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
doublement
9 ch
doucement

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. doublement (\du.blə.mɑ̃\) and doucement (\dus.mɑ̃\) 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 16440, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

doublement is recorded at frequency rank #12,767, classified as anadv, pronounced \du.blə.mɑ̃\. doucement is at rank #3,673, tagged as anadv, pronounced \dus.mɑ̃\.

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 16440, this pair ranks #387,845 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of doublement vs doucement

Shared letters: demnotu. Private to "doublement": bl. Private to "doucement": c.

"doublement" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCVCC  ·  "doucement" · 9 letters · shape CVVCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • doublementddoublement · dobulement · doubblement · doubelment · doubleemnt · doublemennt · doublementt · doublemetn
  • doucementddoucement · docuement · douccement · douceemnt · doucemennt · doucementt · doucemetn · doucemment

Frequency comparison

doublement#12,767
doucement#3,673

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "doublement" and "doucement" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\du.blə.mɑ̃\ versus \dus.mɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "doublement" or "doucement"?
"doucement" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,673 in our French list, against #12,767 for "doublement". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering doublement vs doucement

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 “doublement” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list