pâquevsPâquesConfusable pair

Quick tell: pâque is a noun, Pâques is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pâque” is a noun and “Pâques” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,666
“pâque” frequency rank
#7,359
“Pâques” frequency rank
39025
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pâque Pâques
Definition Variante orthographique de Pâque. Fête que les chrétiens solennisent tous les ans en mémoire de la résurrection de Jésus-Christ, et qu’ils célèbrent le premier dimanche qui suit la pleine lune de l’équinoxe de printemps.

Where the eye mixes pâque and Pâques

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pâque runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against Pâques's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
pâque
6 ch
Pâques

Look-alike desk: pâque vs Pâques

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pâque is \pɑk\ while Pâques is \pak\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “pâque” sits inside “Pâques”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs name), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39025, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pâque is recorded at frequency rank #31,666, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɑk\. Pâques is at rank #7,359, tagged as aname, pronounced \pak\.

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 39025, this pair ranks #251,047 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pâque vs Pâques

Shared letters: epquâ. Private to "pâque": -. Private to "Pâques": s.

"pâque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "Pâques" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pâque" and "Pâques" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pâque" is a noun and "Pâques" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pâque" or "Pâques"?
"Pâques" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,359 in our French list, against #31,666 for "pâque". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "pâque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pâques" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #251,047 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pâque" and "Pâques" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pâque vs pasque". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #251,047 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list