tombeauvstombeauxWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“tombeau” and “tombeaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,567
“tombeau” frequency rank
#27,640
“tombeaux” frequency rank
37207
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature tombeau tombeaux
Definition Sépulcre, monument élevé à la mémoire d’un (ou plusieurs) mort(s) à l’endroit de l’enterrement. Pluriel de tombeau.

Same sound, different letters: tombeau vs tombeaux

Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. tombeau runs 7 letters (CVCCVVV) against tombeaux's 8 (CVCCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
tombeau
8 ch
tombeaux

Same sound, different spelling - tombeau / tombeaux

This is the hard kind. tombeau and tombeaux are pronounced identically (\tɔ̃.bo\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “tombeau” sits inside “tombeaux”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37207, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

tombeau is recorded at frequency rank #9,567, classified as anoun, pronounced \tɔ̃.bo\. tombeaux is at rank #27,640, tagged as anoun, pronounced \tɔ̃.bo\.

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 37207, this pair ranks #264,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of tombeau vs tombeaux

Shared letters: abemotu. Private to "tombeau": -. Private to "tombeaux": x.

"tombeau" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVV  ·  "tombeaux" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • tombeauotmbeau · tmobeau · tobmeau · tombaeu · tombbeau · tombeua · tomebau · tommbeau
  • tombeauxotmbeaux · tmobeaux · tobmeaux · tombaeux · tombbeaux · tombeauxx · tombeaxu · tombeuax

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "tombeau" for "tombeaux" ever safe?
No. They are pronounced the same (\tɔ̃.bo\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "tombeau" or "tombeaux"?
"tombeau" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,567 in our French list, against #27,640 for "tombeaux". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.

  • Full dictionary entry for "tombeau" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "tombeaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,116 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "tombeau" and "tombeaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tombeaux vs tombeur". 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 #264,116 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list