Which to use
“pâtés” and “patins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,137
- “pâtés” frequency rank
- #22,643
- “patins” frequency rank
- 54780
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pâtés | patins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pâté. | Pluriel de patin. |
Where the eye mixes pâtés and patins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pâtés runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against patins's 6 (CVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pâtés with patins
A purely visual mix-up. pâtés (\pɑ.te\) and patins (\pa.tɛ̃\) 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 54780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pâtés is recorded at frequency rank #32,137, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɑ.te\. patins is at rank #22,643, 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 54780, this pair ranks #131,731 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pâtés vs patins
Shared letters: pst. Private to "pâtés": âé. Private to "patins": ain.
"pâtés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "patins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- patins ← aptins · paitns · patinns · patinss · patisn · patnis · pattins · ppatins
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pâtés" and "patins" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pâtés" vs "patins" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pâtés" and "patins" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pâtés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #131,731 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pâtés" and "patins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pâtés vs pètes". 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 #131,731 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.