Which to use
“three” and “tiret” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,176
- “three” frequency rank
- #43,185
- “tiret” frequency rank
- 62361
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | three | tiret |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | (radiotéléphonie) Mot de code radiotéléphonique de l'OACI, OTAN et SIA pour le chiffre 3. | Petit trait (—) qui sert à indiquer un nouvel interlocuteur dans un dialogue, à séparer une phrase ou une partie de phrase comme le font les parenthèses, ou à énumérer des éléments dans une liste. |
Where the eye mixes three and tiret
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. three (CCCVV) and tiret (CVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses three with tiret
A purely visual mix-up. three (\ˈtri\) and tiret (\ti.ʁɛ\) 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 62361, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
three is recorded at frequency rank #19,176, classified as anoun, pronounced \ˈtri\. tiret is at rank #43,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ti.ʁɛ\.
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 62361, this pair ranks #87,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of three vs tiret
Shared letters: ert. Private to "three": h. Private to "tiret": i.
"three" · 5 letters · shape CCCVV · "tiret" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "three" for "tiret" ever safe?
Frequency check: "three" vs "tiret" - 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 "three" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tiret" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #87,535 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "three" and "tiret" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tiret vs titrer". 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 #87,535 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.