Which to use
“phare” and “phrase” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,638
- “phare” frequency rank
- #1,882
- “phrase” frequency rank
- 8520
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | phare | phrase |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tour construite à l’entrée d’un port ou à proximité d’une côte, et portant à son sommet un feu qui sert à guider les vaisseaux pendant la nuit. | Séquence de propositions ordonnées en fonction des règles de la grammaire, permettant de décrire quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes phare and phrase
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: phare vs phrase
A purely visual mix-up. phare (\faʁ\) and phrase (\fʁɑz\) 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 8520, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
phare is recorded at frequency rank #6,638, classified as anoun, pronounced \faʁ\. phrase is at rank #1,882, tagged as anoun, pronounced \fʁɑz\.
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 8520, this pair ranks #419,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of phare vs phrase
Shared letters: aehpr. Private to "phare": -. Private to "phrase": s.
"phare" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "phrase" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "phare" for "phrase" ever safe?
Frequency check: "phare" vs "phrase" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "phare" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "phrase" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #419,748 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "phare" and "phrase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parl vs phare". 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 #419,748 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.