Which to use
“papier” is a noun and “patiner” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,398
- “papier” frequency rank
- #36,090
- “patiner” frequency rank
- 37488
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | papier | patiner |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Matière faite à partir de la pâte de chiffons ou de fibres végétales étalée en couches minces que l’on fait sécher et qu’on débite par feuilles pour écrire, imprimer, envelopper, etc. | Glisser sur la glace, sur un sol uni, avec des patins. |
Where the eye mixes papier and patiner
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between papier and patiner
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: papier is \pa.pje\ while patiner is \pa.ti.ne\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37488, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
papier is recorded at frequency rank #1,398, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.pje\. patiner is at rank #36,090, tagged as averb, pronounced \pa.ti.ne\.
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 37488, this pair ranks #262,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of papier vs patiner
Shared letters: aeipr. Private to "papier": -. Private to "patiner": nt.
"papier" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "patiner" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "papier" for "patiner" ever safe?
Frequency check: "papier" vs "patiner" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "papier" and "patiner" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "papier" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patiner" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #262,163 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "papier" and "patiner" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patiner vs patineurs". 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 #262,163 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.