Which to use
“pannes” and “pâtés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,819
- “pannes” frequency rank
- #32,137
- “pâtés” frequency rank
- 50956
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pannes | pâtés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de panne (état de ce qui ne fonctionne plus).. | Pluriel de pâté. |
Where the eye mixes pannes and pâtés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pannes vs pâtés
A purely visual mix-up. pannes (\pan\) and pâtés (\pɑ.te\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pannes is recorded at frequency rank #18,819, classified as anoun, pronounced \pan\. pâtés is at rank #32,137, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɑ.te\.
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 50956, this pair ranks #158,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pannes vs pâtés
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pannes": aen. Private to "pâtés": tâé.
"pannes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pâtés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pannes ← apnnes · panens · panes · panness · pannse · pnanes · ppannes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pannes" and "pâtés" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pannes" vs "pâtés" - which ranks higher?
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 "pannes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pâtés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #158,664 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pannes" and "pâtés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pâtés vs pètes". 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 #158,664 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.