Which to use
“patte” and “pitié” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,206
- “patte” frequency rank
- #3,157
- “pitié” frequency rank
- 13363
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patte | pitié |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 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. | Sentiment douloureux face aux souffrances d’autrui, que l'on ne connaît ou partage pas soi-même. |
Where the eye mixes patte and pitié
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. patte (CVCCV) and pitié (CVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses patte with pitié
A purely visual mix-up. patte (\pat\) and pitié (\pi.tje\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patte is recorded at frequency rank #10,206, classified as anoun, pronounced \pat\. pitié is at rank #3,157, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.tje\.
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 13363, this pair ranks #401,323 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of patte vs pitié
Shared letters: pt. Private to "patte": ae. Private to "pitié": ié.
"patte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "pitié" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- patte ← aptte · patet · ppatte · ptate
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "patte" and "pitié" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "patte" or "pitié"?
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 "patte" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pitié" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #401,323 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patte" and "pitié" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pactes vs patte". 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 #401,323 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.