Which to use
“herpès” and “heures” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,433
- “herpès” frequency rank
- #347
- “heures” frequency rank
- 32780
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | herpès | heures |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Heures canoniales. |
Where the eye mixes herpès and heures
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. herpès (CVCCVC) and heures (CVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between herpès and heures
A purely visual mix-up. herpès (\ɛʁ.pɛs\) and heures (^((h muet))\œʁ\) 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 32780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
herpès is recorded at frequency rank #32,433, classified as anoun, pronounced \ɛʁ.pɛs\. heures is at rank #347, tagged as anoun, pronounced ^((h muet))\œʁ\.
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 32780, this pair ranks #295,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of herpès vs heures
Shared letters: ehrs. Private to "herpès": pè. Private to "heures": u.
"herpès" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "heures" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- heures ← ehures · herues · heuers · heuress · heurres · heurse · hheures · hueres
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "herpès" for "heures" ever safe?
Frequency check: "herpès" vs "heures" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "herpès" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "heures" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,004 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "herpès" and "heures" 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 #295,004 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.