Which to use
“pains” is a noun and “pris” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,919
- “pains” frequency rank
- #302
- “pris” frequency rank
- 11221
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pains | pris |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pain. | Occupé, pas disponible. |
Where the eye mixes pains and pris
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pains vs pris
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pains is \pɛ̃\ while pris is \pʁi\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11221, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pains is recorded at frequency rank #10,919, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛ̃\. pris is at rank #302, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁi\.
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 11221, this pair ranks #409,976 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pains vs pris
Shared letters: ips. Private to "pains": an. Private to "pris": r.
"pains" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC · "pris" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pains" for "pris" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pains" or "pris" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pris" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #409,976 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pains" and "pris" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pains vs parias". 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 #409,976 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.