duchésvsducksWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#39,757
“duchés” frequency rank
#34,503
“ducks” frequency rank
74260
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature duchés ducks
Definition Pluriel de duché. Pluriel de duck.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set duchés and ducks apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
duchés
5 ch
ducks

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. duchés (\dy.ʃe\) and ducks (\ˈdʌks\) 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 74260, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

duchés is recorded at frequency rank #39,757, classified as anoun, pronounced \dy.ʃe\. ducks is at rank #34,503, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈdʌks\.

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 74260, this pair ranks #37,696 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of duchés vs ducks

Shared letters: cdsu. Private to "duchés": . Private to "ducks": k.

"duchés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "ducks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ducksdcuks · dducks · duccks · duckks · duckss · ducsk · dukcs · udcks

Frequency comparison

duchés#39,757
ducks#34,503

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "duchés" and "ducks" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\dy.ʃe\ versus \ˈdʌks\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "duchés" or "ducks"?
"ducks" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #34,503 in our French list, against #39,757 for "duchés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering duchés vs ducks

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 “duchés” 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