Which to use
“obs” is a verb and “ose” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,851
- “obs” frequency rank
- #3,950
- “ose” frequency rank
- 17801
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | obs | ose |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de obsen. | Nom générique donné aux substances organiques non hydrolysables possédant un groupe réducteur, aldéhyde ou cétone, et plus de deux fonctions alcooliques. On les divise en trioses, tétroses, pentoses, hexoses et heptoses… suivant qu’ils renferment 3, 4, 5, 6 ou 7… atomes de carbone. On les distingue aussi en aldoses et cétoses suivant qu’ils ont des fonctions aldéhydes ou cétoniques. |
Where the eye mixes obs and ose
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between obs and ose
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: obs is \ɔps\ while ose is \oz\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17801, 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\. ose is at rank #3,950, tagged as anoun, pronounced \oz\.
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 17801, this pair ranks #381,436 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of obs vs ose
Shared letters: os. Private to "obs": b. Private to "ose": e.
"obs" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ose" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "obs" for "ose" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "obs" or "ose" show up more?
What to do next
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 "ose" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #381,436 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "obs" and "ose" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "obs vs och". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #381,436 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.