pâque vs piqûre, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“pâque” and “piqûre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,666
“pâque” frequency rank: #18,280
“piqûre” frequency rank: 49946
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	pâque	piqûre
Definition	Variante orthographique de Pâque.	Petite blessure que fait une chose ou un animal qui pique.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pâque and piqûre apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

pâque

6 ch

piqûre

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pâque (\pɑk\) and piqûre (\pi.kyʁ\) 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 49946, 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\. piqûre is at rank #18,280, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.kyʁ\.

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 49946, this pair ranks #166,583 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pâque vs piqûre

Shared letters: epq. Private to "pâque": uâ. Private to "piqûre": irû.

"pâque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "piqûre" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Frequency comparison

pâque#31,666

piqûre#18,280

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pâque" and "piqûre" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (\pɑk\ versus \pi.kyʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "pâque" or "piqûre"?

"piqûre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,280 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.

Remembering pâque vs piqûre

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pâque” entry
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