Which to use
“thèse” and “three” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,109
- “thèse” frequency rank
- #19,176
- “three” frequency rank
- 22285
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | thèse | three |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Position intellectuelle, point de vue, avis. | (radiotéléphonie) Mot de code radiotéléphonique de l'OACI, OTAN et SIA pour le chiffre 3. |
Where the eye mixes thèse and three
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: thèse vs three
A purely visual mix-up. thèse (\tɛz\) and three (\ˈtri\) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22285, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
thèse is recorded at frequency rank #3,109, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɛz\. three is at rank #19,176, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ˈtri\.
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 22285, this pair ranks #358,816 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of thèse vs three
Shared letters: eht. Private to "thèse": sè. Private to "three": r.
"thèse" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "three" · 5 letters · shape CCCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- three ← htree · thhree · thre · thrree · trhee · tthree
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "thèse" for "three" ever safe?
Which is more common, "thèse" or "three"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "thèse" and "three" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "thèse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "three" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #358,816 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "thèse" and "three" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "taxée vs three". 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 #358,816 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.