Which to use
“patch” and “pâte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,274
- “patch” frequency rank
- #5,696
- “pâte” frequency rank
- 23970
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patch | pâte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Section de code que l’on ajoute à un logiciel, pour y apporter des modifications mineures. | Préparation culinaire à base de farine consommée après cuisson sous forme de pain, tarte, gâteau, friandise, etc. |
Where the eye mixes patch and pâte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses patch with pâte
A purely visual mix-up. patch (\patʃ\) and pâte (\pɑt\) 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 23970, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patch is recorded at frequency rank #18,274, classified as anoun, pronounced \patʃ\. pâte is at rank #5,696, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɑt\.
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 23970, this pair ranks #349,403 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of patch vs pâte
Shared letters: pt. Private to "patch": ach. Private to "pâte": eâ.
"patch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "pâte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- patch ← aptch · pacth · patcch · patchh · pathc · pattch · ppatch · ptach
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patch" and "pâte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "patch" vs "pâte" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pâte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #349,403 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patch" and "pâte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patch vs Patel". 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 #349,403 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.