Which to use
“herbes” and “herpès” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,251
- “herbes” frequency rank
- #32,433
- “herpès” frequency rank
- 40684
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herbes | herpès |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de herbe. | Maladie virale très contagieuse, sexuellement transmissible. Elle est caractérisée, pendant les périodes de crise, par une éruption vésiculeuse caractérisée par de légères élevures transparentes rassemblées en groupes sur une base enflammée. |
Where the eye mixes herbes and herpès
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. herbes and herpès follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Look-alike desk: herbes vs herpès
A purely visual mix-up. herbes (\ɛʁb\) and herpès (\ɛʁ.pɛs\) 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 40684, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
herbes is recorded at frequency rank #8,251, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁb\. herpès is at rank #32,433, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁ.pɛs\.
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 40684, this pair ranks #238,712 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of herbes vs herpès
Shared letters: ehrs. Private to "herbes": b. Private to "herpès": pè.
"herbes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "herpès" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- herbes ← ehrbes · hebres · herbbes · herbess · herbse · herebs · herrbes · hherbes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "herbes" for "herpès" ever safe?
Frequency check: "herbes" vs "herpès" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "herbes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "herpès" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #238,712 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herbes" and "herpès" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "herpès vs hêtres". 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 #238,712 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.