Which to use
“patrouille” and “patrouilleur” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,361
- “patrouille” frequency rank
- #44,085
- “patrouilleur” frequency rank
- 53446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patrouille | patrouilleur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Ronde de nuit faite par des troupes de garde dans une ville, pour la sûreté des habitants. | Soldat envoyé en patrouille. |
Where the eye mixes patrouille and patrouilleur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between patrouille and patrouilleur
A purely visual mix-up. patrouille (\pa.tʁuj\) and patrouilleur (\pa.tʁu.jœʁ\) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “patrouille” sits inside “patrouilleur”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53446, 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\. patrouilleur is at rank #44,085, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tʁu.jœʁ\.
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 53446, this pair ranks #140,684 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patrouille vs patrouilleur
Shared letters: aeiloprtu. Private to "patrouille": -. Private to "patrouilleur": -.
"patrouille" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVVVCCV · "patrouilleur" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- patrouille ← aptrouille · partouille · patoruille · patroiulle · patrouile · patrouilel · patroulile · patrrouille
- patrouilleur ← aptrouilleur · partouilleur · patoruilleur · patroiulleur · patrouilelur · patrouileur · patrouilleru · patrouilleurr
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patrouille" and "patrouilleur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "patrouille" or "patrouilleur"?
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 "patrouilleur" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #140,684 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patrouille" and "patrouilleur" 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 #140,684 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.