Which to use
“obéir” is a verb and “oeil” is a typographic variant - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,367
- “obéir” frequency rank
- #2,530
- “oeil” frequency rank
- 12897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obéir | oeil |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se soumettre à une demande, une règle ou une obligation d’une personne ; exécuter un ordre donné. | Variante typographique d’œil. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set obéir and oeil apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obéir is \ɔ.be.iʁ\ while oeil is \œj\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs typographic variant), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obéir is recorded at frequency rank #10,367, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔ.be.iʁ\. oeil is at rank #2,530, tagged as atypographic variant, pronounced \œj\.
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 12897, this pair ranks #403,293 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obéir vs oeil
Shared letters: io. Private to "obéir": bré. Private to "oeil": el.
"obéir" · 5 letters · shape VCVVC · "oeil" · 4 letters · shape VVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- oeil ← eoil · oeill · oeli · oiel
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obéir" and "oeil" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "obéir" or "oeil"?
Remembering obéir vs oeil
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “obéir”; for a typographic variant, it's “oeil”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “obéir” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable