Which to use
“ducks” and “duels” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,503
- “ducks” frequency rank
- #20,702
- “duels” frequency rank
- 55205
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ducks | duels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de duck. | Pluriel de duel. |
Where the eye mixes ducks and duels
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. ducks (CVCCC) and duels (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: ducks vs duels
A purely visual mix-up. ducks (\ˈdʌks\) and duels (\dɥɛl\) 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 55205, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ducks is recorded at frequency rank #34,503, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈdʌks\. duels is at rank #20,702, tagged as anoun, pronounced \dɥɛl\.
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 55205, this pair ranks #128,971 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ducks vs duels
Shared letters: dsu. Private to "ducks": ck. Private to "duels": el.
"ducks" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "duels" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ducks" for "duels" ever safe?
Which is more common, "ducks" or "duels"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ducks" and "duels" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ducks" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "duels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #128,971 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ducks" and "duels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ducks vs ducon". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #128,971 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.