Which to use
“patin” and “patte” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #23,309
- “patin” frequency rank
- #10,206
- “patte” frequency rank
- 33515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patin | patte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sorte de semelle fort épaisse que l’on porte pour faire certains travaux de ménage ou pour se préserver de l’humidité. | Membre d’un animal quadrupède, d’un oiseau (à l’exception des oiseaux de proie), des arthropodes comme l’écrevisse, le homard, l’araignée, la mouche, etc. |
Where the eye mixes patin and patte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses patin with patte
A purely visual mix-up. patin (\pa.tɛ̃\) and patte (\pat\) 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 33515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patin is recorded at frequency rank #23,309, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛ̃\. patte is at rank #10,206, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pat\.
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 33515, this pair ranks #290,129 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patin vs patte
Shared letters: apt. Private to "patin": in. Private to "patte": e.
"patin" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "patte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patin" and "patte" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "patin" or "patte" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "patin" and "patte" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "patin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,129 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patin" and "patte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "palin vs patin". 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 #290,129 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.