Which to use
“trèfle” is a noun and “triple” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,449
- “trèfle” frequency rank
- #5,302
- “triple” frequency rank
- 27751
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | trèfle | triple |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Nom usuel des plantes du genre Trifolium, plantes herbacées de la famille des Fabaceae (Fabacées), dont les feuilles sont formées de 3 (rarement 4 ou plus) folioles rondes. | Qui vaut trois fois autant. |
Where the eye mixes trèfle and triple
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses trèfle with triple
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: trèfle is \tʁɛfl\ while triple is \tʁipl\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27751, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
trèfle is recorded at frequency rank #22,449, classified as anoun, pronounced \tʁɛfl\. triple is at rank #5,302, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tʁipl\.
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 27751, this pair ranks #327,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of trèfle vs triple
Shared letters: elrt. Private to "trèfle": fè. Private to "triple": ip.
"trèfle" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "triple" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- triple ← rtiple · tirple · trilpe · tripel · triplle · tripple · trpile · trriple
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "trèfle" for "triple" ever safe?
Which is more common, "trèfle" or "triple"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "trèfle" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "triple" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #327,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "trèfle" and "triple" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "trèfle vs truelle". 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 #327,023 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.