Which to use
“patrouille” is a noun and “patrouiller” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,361
- “patrouille” frequency rank
- #42,511
- “patrouiller” frequency rank
- 51872
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patrouille | patrouiller |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ronde de nuit faite par des troupes de garde dans une ville, pour la sûreté des habitants. | Faire une patrouille ; aller en patrouille. |
Where the eye mixes patrouille and patrouiller
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence. patrouille runs 10 letters (CVCCVVVCCV) against patrouiller's 11 (CVCCVVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: patrouille vs patrouiller
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patrouille is \pa.tʁuj\ while patrouiller is \pa.tʁu.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “patrouille” sits inside “patrouiller”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patrouille is recorded at frequency rank #9,361, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tʁuj\. patrouiller is at rank #42,511, tagged as averb, pronounced \pa.tʁu.je\.
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 51872, this pair ranks #151,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patrouille vs patrouiller
Shared letters: aeiloprtu. Private to "patrouille": -. Private to "patrouiller": -.
"patrouille" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVVCCV · "patrouiller" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- patrouille ← aptrouille · partouille · patoruille · patroiulle · patrouile · patrouilel · patroulile · patrrouille
- patrouiller ← aptrouiller · partouiller · patoruiller · patroiuller · patrouilelr · patrouiler · patrouillerr · patrouillre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patrouille" for "patrouiller" ever safe?
Which is more common, "patrouille" or "patrouiller"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "patrouille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patrouiller" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #151,829 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patrouille" and "patrouiller" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patrouiller vs patrouilleur". 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 #151,829 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.