Which to use
“flan” and “flow” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,213
- “flan” frequency rank
- #16,368
- “flow” frequency rank
- 39581
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | flan | flow |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sorte de tarte faite avec de la crème, des œufs et de la farine. | Flux, rythme avec lequel le rappeur débite les paroles. |
Where the eye mixes flan and flow
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses flan with flow
A purely visual mix-up. flan (\flɑ̃\) and flow (\flo\) 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 39581, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
flan is recorded at frequency rank #23,213, classified as anoun, pronounced \flɑ̃\. flow is at rank #16,368, tagged as anoun, pronounced \flo\.
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 39581, this pair ranks #246,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of flan vs flow
Shared letters: fl. Private to "flan": an. Private to "flow": ow.
"flan" · 4 letters · shape CCVC · "flow" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "flan" for "flow" ever safe?
Frequency check: "flan" vs "flow" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "flan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "flow" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #246,911 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "flan" and "flow" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ffa vs flan". 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 #246,911 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.