pourvu que
\puʁ.vy kə\
The verdict
“pourvu que” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a conjunction. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Locution introduisant une condition.
Corpus desk
Index FR-pourvu-que · pourvu que · French
pourvu que · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "P" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pourvu que |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Conjunction |
| IPA | \puʁ.vy kə\ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pourvu que” sits in French frequency
Rare enough to double-check
pourvu que is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as aconjunction, transcribed \puʁ.vy kə\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Locution introduisant une condition.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for pourvu que, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is pourvu que, spelled P-O-U-R-V-U- -Q-U-E.
Definition
- 1Locution introduisant une condition.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pourvu que appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Il y a des gens qui pensent que la spoliation perd toute son immoralité pourvu qu’elle soit légale. Quant à moi, je ne saurais imaginer une circonstance plus aggravante. Quoi qu’il en soit, ce qui est certain, c’est que les résultats économiques sont les mêmes.
On constate, en outre, que la chauve-souris peut voler malgré l’ablation d’une notable étendue de la membrane de ses ailes, pourvu que la partie restante corresponde aux espaces interdigitaux.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.