XIevsXIIIeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,431
“XIe” frequency rank
#16,512
“XIIIe” frequency rank
35943
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature XIe XIIIe
Definition Onzième. Treizième.

Where the eye mixes XIe and XIIIe

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. XIe runs 3 letters (CVV) against XIIIe's 5 (CVVVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
XIe
5 ch
XIIIe

Look-alike desk: XIe vs XIIIe

A purely visual mix-up. XIe (^((h aspiré))\ɔ̃.zjɛm\) and XIIIe (\tʁɛ.zjɛm\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35943, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

XIe is recorded at frequency rank #19,431, classified as anadj, pronounced ^((h aspiré))\ɔ̃.zjɛm\. XIIIe is at rank #16,512, tagged as anadj, pronounced \tʁɛ.zjɛm\.

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 35943, this pair ranks #273,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of XIe vs XIIIe

Shared letters: eix. Private to "XIe": -. Private to "XIIIe": -.

"XIe" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "XIIIe" · 5 letters · shape CVVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • XIIIeixiie · xiiei · xxiiie

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "XIe" for "XIIIe" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (^((h aspiré))\ɔ̃.zjɛm\ versus \tʁɛ.zjɛm\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "XIe" or "XIIIe"?
"XIIIe" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,512 in our French list, against #19,431 for "XIe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "XIe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "XIIIe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #273,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "XIe" and "XIIIe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "XIe vs XYZ". 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 #273,079 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