Which to use
“phases” and “phrase” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,330
- “phases” frequency rank
- #1,882
- “phrase” frequency rank
- 8212
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | phases | phrase |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de phase. | Séquence de propositions ordonnées en fonction des règles de la grammaire, permettant de décrire quelque chose. |
Where the eye mixes phases and phrase
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: phases vs phrase
A purely visual mix-up. phases (\faz\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8212, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
phases is recorded at frequency rank #6,330, classified as anoun, pronounced \faz\. 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 8212, this pair ranks #420,773 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of phases vs phrase
Shared letters: aehps. Private to "phases": -. Private to "phrase": r.
"phases" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC · "phrase" · 6 letters · shape CCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "phases" and "phrase" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "phases" or "phrase" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "phases" and "phrase" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "phases" 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 #420,773 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "phases" and "phrase" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parés vs phases". 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 #420,773 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.