jeuxvsjoueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#544
“jeux” frequency rank
#689
“joue” frequency rank
1233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature jeux joue
Definition Pluriel de jeu. Partie du visage de l’humain qui est au-dessous des tempes et des yeux, et qui s’étend de chaque côté du nez jusqu’au menton dont la peau ferme latéralement la bouche.

Where the eye mixes jeux and joue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
jeux
4 ch
joue

Look-alike desk: jeux vs joue

A purely visual mix-up. jeux (\ʒø\) and joue (\ʒu\) 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 1233, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

jeux is recorded at frequency rank #544, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʒø\. joue is at rank #689, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ʒu\.

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 1233, this pair ranks #438,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of jeux vs joue

Shared letters: eju. Private to "jeux": x. Private to "joue": o.

"jeux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "joue" · 4 letters · shape CVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • jeuxejux · jeuxx · jexu · jjeux · juex
  • jouejjoue · joeu · juoe · ojue

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "jeux" and "joue" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\ʒø\ versus \ʒu\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "jeux" vs "joue" - which ranks higher?
"jeux" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #544 in our French list, against #689 for "joue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "jeux" and "joue" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "jeux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "joue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #438,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "jeux" and "joue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "jor vs joue". 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 #438,387 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list