Français homophones

pain/pains/peins/peint/peints/pin/pins

"pain" is a noun; "peins" is a verb - grammar picks the spelling, not sound. Size rank #10 of 9,139 French groups.

Data vintage 2026-05-06

Grammar picks the spelling

Same sound, different grammar: "pain" arrives as a noun, while "peins" is a verb. Once the sentence role is fixed, only one spelling fits.

Spelling pairs in this cluster

Shared stem "pain" then splits - "pain" (4 letters) vs "pains" (5).
No shared spelling stem: "pain" is 4 letters, "peins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pain" is 4 letters, "peint" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pain" is 4 letters, "peints" is 6; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pain" is 4 letters, "pin" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pain" is 4 letters, "pins" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pains" is 5 letters, "peins" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pains" is 5 letters, "peint" is 5; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pains" is 5 letters, "peints" is 6; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pains" is 5 letters, "pin" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "pains" is 5 letters, "pins" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Single-letter fork: "peins" keeps s, "peint" writes t at letter 5.
Shared stem "pein" then splits - "peins" (5 letters) vs "peints" (6).
No shared spelling stem: "peins" is 5 letters, "pin" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peins" is 5 letters, "pins" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "peint" then splits - "peint" (5 letters) vs "peints" (6).
No shared spelling stem: "peint" is 5 letters, "pin" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peint" is 5 letters, "pins" is 4; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peints" is 6 letters, "pin" is 3; only the sound ties them.
No shared spelling stem: "peints" is 6 letters, "pins" is 4; only the sound ties them.
Shared stem "pin" then splits - "pin" (3 letters) vs "pins" (4).

Orthographic DNA of this cluster

Shared letters across pain, pains, peins, peint, peints, pin, pins: inp. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.

pain
4 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVC
Inventory ainp · private a
pains
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory ainps · private as
peins
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory einps · private es
peint
5 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCC
Inventory einpt · private et
peints
6 letters · 2 vowels · shape CVVCCC
Inventory einpst · private est
pin
3 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVC
Inventory inp · no private letters vs siblings
pins
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory inps · private s

Pick the spelling from the meaning

Write "pain" when you mean: Pâte cuite au four, à base de farine, d’eau et de levure de boulanger ou de levain.
Write "pains" when you mean: Pluriel de pain.
Write "peins" when you mean: Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de peindre.
Write "peint" when you mean: Recouvert de peinture.
Write "peints" when you mean: Masculin pluriel de peint.
Write "pin" when you mean: Grand arbre du genre Pinus, conifères résineux, monoïques, à aiguilles persistantes longues, minces, pointues et groupées en faisceaux pa…
Write "pins" when you mean: Pluriel de pin.

Known mistypes of these spellings

Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.

pain ← apin · painn · pani · pian · ppain
pains ← apins · painns · painss · paisn · panis · pians
peins ← epins · peinns · peinss · peisn · piens · ppeins
peint ← epint · peinnt · peintt · peitn · penit · pient
peints ← epints · peinnts · peinst · peintss · peintts · peitns
pins ← ipns · pinns · pinss · pisn · pnis · ppins

Each spelling

pain

noun · /\pɛ̃\/ · #1,925 frequency

Pâte cuite au four, à base de farine, d’eau et de levure de boulanger ou de levain.

pains

noun · /\pɛ̃\/ · #10,919 frequency

Pluriel de pain.

peins

verb · /\pɛ̃\/ · #48,098 frequency

Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de peindre.

peint

adjective · /\pɛ̃\/ · #5,272 frequency

Recouvert de peinture.

peints

adjective · /\pɛ̃\/ · #14,755 frequency

Masculin pluriel de peint.

noun · /\pɛ̃\/ · #9,054 frequency

Grand arbre du genre Pinus, conifères résineux, monoïques, à aiguilles persistantes longues, minces, pointues et groupées en faisceaux par 2, 3 ou 5, aux cônes mâles ressemblant à des chatons et aux cônes femelles d’abord dressés puis se courbant ou bien pendants.

pins

noun · /\pɛ̃\/ · #10,922 frequency

Pluriel de pin.