Which to use
“pattes” and “pètes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,881
- “pattes” frequency rank
- #48,737
- “pètes” frequency rank
- 53618
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pattes | pètes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de patte. | Pluriel de pète. |
Where the eye mixes pattes and pètes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pattes runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against pètes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pattes and pètes
A purely visual mix-up. pattes (\pat\) 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 53618, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pattes is recorded at frequency rank #4,881, classified as anoun, pronounced \pat\. 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 53618, this pair ranks #139,503 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pattes vs pètes
Shared letters: epst. Private to "pattes": a. Private to "pètes": è.
"pattes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pètes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pattes ← apttes · pates · patets · pattess · pattse · ppattes · ptates
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pattes" for "pètes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pattes" or "pètes"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pattes" and "pètes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pattes" 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 #139,503 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pattes" and "pètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep 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 #139,503 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.