Which to use
“patelin” is an adjective and “patin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,089
- “patelin” frequency rank
- #23,309
- “patin” frequency rank
- 59398
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patelin | patin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui tâche d’en venir à ses fins par des manières flatteuses, faussement aimables, insinuantes. | Sorte de semelle fort épaisse que l’on porte pour faire certains travaux de ménage ou pour se préserver de l’humidité. |
Where the eye mixes patelin and patin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. patelin runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against patin's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between patelin and patin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patelin is \pa.tlɛ̃\ while patin is \pa.tɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59398, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patelin is recorded at frequency rank #36,089, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.tlɛ̃\. patin is at rank #23,309, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛ̃\.
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 59398, this pair ranks #103,377 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of patelin vs patin
Shared letters: ainpt. Private to "patelin": el. Private to "patin": -.
"patelin" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "patin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patelin" for "patin" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "patelin" or "patin" show up more?
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 "patelin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #103,377 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patelin" and "patin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "palin vs patelin". 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 #103,377 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.