Which to use
“pavé” and “phase” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,549
- “pavé” frequency rank
- #1,783
- “phase” frequency rank
- 12332
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pavé | phase |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Bloc, généralement cubique et fait de pierre dure (basalte, granit, grès, porphyre…), spécialement taillé pour confectionner une chaussée de route, de rue, ou d’un sol quelconque. | États successifs par lesquels passent certains phénomènes de la vie, de l’histoire. |
Where the eye mixes pavé and phase
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pavé runs 4 letters (CVCV) against phase's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pavé vs phase
A purely visual mix-up. pavé (\pa.ve\) and phase (\fɑz\) 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 12332, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pavé is recorded at frequency rank #10,549, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.ve\. phase is at rank #1,783, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fɑz\.
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 12332, this pair ranks #405,709 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pavé vs phase
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pavé": vé. Private to "phase": ehs.
"pavé" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "phase" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- phase ← hpase · pahse · phaes · phasse · phhase · phsae · pphase
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pavé" for "phase" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pavé" or "phase" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pavé" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,709 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pavé" and "phase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parl vs pavé". 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 #405,709 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.