Which to use
“requin” is a noun and “rouquin” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #9,907
- “requin” frequency rank
- #41,509
- “rouquin” frequency rank
- 51416
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | requin | rouquin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Espèce de poisson de mer prédateur de la classe des chondrichthyens (Chondrichthyens), à la silhouette fuselée, hydrodynamique, ayant plusieurs rangées de dents tranchantes à chacune des 2 mâchoires, une nageoire dorsale, deux pectorales, et une nageoire caudale hétérocerque (asymétrique), ayant cinq à sept fentes branchiales sur le côté, et une peau rugueuse (denticules dermiques). | De la couleur roux. |
Where the eye mixes requin and rouquin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. requin runs 6 letters (CVCVVC) against rouquin's 7 (CVVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses requin with rouquin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: requin is \ʁə.kɛ̃\ while rouquin is \ʁu.kɛ̃\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51416, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
requin is recorded at frequency rank #9,907, classified as anoun, pronounced \ʁə.kɛ̃\. rouquin is at rank #41,509, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁu.kɛ̃\.
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 51416, this pair ranks #155,150 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of requin vs rouquin
Shared letters: inqru. Private to "requin": e. Private to "rouquin": o.
"requin" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "rouquin" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "requin" and "rouquin" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "requin" vs "rouquin" - which ranks higher?
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 "requin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "rouquin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #155,150 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "requin" and "rouquin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "roumain vs rouquin". 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 #155,150 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.