Which to use
“obs” and “offs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,851
- “obs” frequency rank
- #24,694
- “offs” frequency rank
- 38545
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obs | offs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de obsen. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de off. |
Where the eye mixes obs and offs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses obs with offs
A purely visual mix-up. obs (\ɔps\) and offs (\ˈɔfs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38545, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
obs is recorded at frequency rank #13,851, classified as averb, pronounced \ɔps\. offs is at rank #24,694, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈɔfs\.
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 38545, this pair ranks #254,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of obs vs offs
Shared letters: os. Private to "obs": b. Private to "offs": f.
"obs" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "offs" · 4 letters · shape VCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- offs ← fofs · offss · ofs · ofsf
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "obs" and "offs" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "obs" vs "offs" - 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 "obs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "offs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #254,540 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obs" and "offs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "offs vs OIF". 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 #254,540 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.