Which to use
“pâte” and “pètes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,696
- “pâte” frequency rank
- #48,737
- “pètes” frequency rank
- 54433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pâte | pètes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Préparation culinaire à base de farine consommée après cuisson sous forme de pain, tarte, gâteau, friandise, etc. | Pluriel de pète. |
Where the eye mixes pâte and pètes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pâte and pètes
A purely visual mix-up. pâte (\pɑt\) and pètes (\pɛt\) 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 54433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pâte is recorded at frequency rank #5,696, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɑt\. pètes is at rank #48,737, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛt\.
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 54433, this pair ranks #134,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pâte vs pètes
Shared letters: ept. Private to "pâte": â. Private to "pètes": sè.
"pâte" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "pètes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pâte" for "pètes" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pâte" or "pètes" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pâte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pètes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #134,110 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pâte" and "pètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs pètes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #134,110 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.