duchévsduréeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,815
“duché” frequency rank
#1,025
“durée” frequency rank
10840
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duché durée
Definition Seigneurie, principauté à laquelle le titre de duc est attaché. Espace de temps pendant lequel une chose dure.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set duché and durée apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
duché
5 ch
durée

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. duché (\dy.ʃe\) and durée (\dy.ʁe\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10840, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duché is recorded at frequency rank #9,815, classified as anoun, pronounced \dy.ʃe\. durée is at rank #1,025, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dy.ʁe\.

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 10840, this pair ranks #411,475 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of duché vs durée

Shared letters: dué. Private to "duché": ch. Private to "durée": er.

"duché" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "durée" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Frequency comparison

duché#9,815
durée#1,025

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duché" and "durée" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dy.ʃe\ versus \dy.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "duché" or "durée"?
"durée" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,025 in our French list, against #9,815 for "duché". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering duché vs durée

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 “duché” 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