paroisvsputoisWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,212
“parois” frequency rank
#46,379
“putois” frequency rank
58591
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parois putois
Definition Pluriel de paroi. Petit quadrupède carnivore dont la peau sert à faire des fourrures, possédant une glande libérant une puanteur en cas de peur.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parois and putois apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
parois
6 ch
putois

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parois (\pa.ʁwa\) and putois (\py.twa\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58591, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parois is recorded at frequency rank #12,212, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.ʁwa\. putois is at rank #46,379, tagged as anoun, pronounced \py.twa\.

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 58591, this pair ranks #108,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of parois vs putois

Shared letters: iops. Private to "parois": ar. Private to "putois": tu.

"parois" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC  ·  "putois" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paroisaprois · paoris · parios · paroiss · parosi · parrois · pparois · praois
  • putoispputois · ptuois · puotis · putios · putoiss · putosi · puttois · uptois

Frequency comparison

parois#12,212
putois#46,379

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parois" and "putois" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pa.ʁwa\ versus \py.twa\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parois" or "putois"?
"parois" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,212 in our French list, against #46,379 for "putois". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parois vs putois

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 “parois” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list