Which to use
“patrouiller” is a verb and “patrouilleur” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #42,511
- “patrouiller” frequency rank
- #44,085
- “patrouilleur” frequency rank
- 86596
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patrouiller | patrouilleur |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire une patrouille ; aller en patrouille. | Soldat envoyé en patrouille. |
Where the eye mixes patrouiller and patrouilleur
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 11 letters in sequence. patrouiller runs 11 letters (CVCCVVVCCVC) against patrouilleur's 12 (CVCCVVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: patrouiller vs patrouilleur
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patrouiller is \pa.tʁu.je\ while patrouilleur is \pa.tʁu.jœʁ\. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 86596, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patrouiller is recorded at frequency rank #42,511, classified as averb, pronounced \pa.tʁu.je\. 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 86596, this pair ranks #9,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of patrouiller vs patrouilleur
Shared letters: aeiloprtu. Private to "patrouiller": -. Private to "patrouilleur": -.
"patrouiller" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVVCCVC · "patrouilleur" · 12 letters · shape CVCCVVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- patrouiller ← aptrouiller · partouiller · patoruiller · patroiuller · patrouilelr · patrouiler · patrouillerr · patrouillre
- patrouilleur ← aptrouilleur · partouilleur · patoruilleur · patroiulleur · patrouilelur · patrouileur · patrouilleru · patrouilleurr
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patrouiller" and "patrouilleur" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "patrouiller" vs "patrouilleur" - which ranks higher?
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 "patrouiller" 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 #9,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patrouiller" and "patrouilleur" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patrouilleur vs patrouilleurs". 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 #9,479 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.