Which to use
“toucher” and “tousser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,152
- “toucher” frequency rank
- #33,492
- “tousser” frequency rank
- 35644
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | toucher | tousser |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mettre la main sur quelque chose. | Avoir un accès de toux. |
Where the eye mixes toucher and tousser
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. toucher and tousser follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses toucher with tousser
A purely visual mix-up. toucher (\tu.ʃe\) and tousser (\tu.se\) 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 35644, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
toucher is recorded at frequency rank #2,152, classified as averb, pronounced \tu.ʃe\. tousser is at rank #33,492, tagged as averb, pronounced \tu.se\.
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 35644, this pair ranks #275,256 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of toucher vs tousser
Shared letters: eortu. Private to "toucher": ch. Private to "tousser": s.
"toucher" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "tousser" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "toucher" and "tousser" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "toucher" vs "tousser" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "toucher" and "tousser" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "toucher" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "tousser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #275,256 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "toucher" and "tousser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "tasser vs tousser". 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 #275,256 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.