Which to use
“pause” is a noun and “pensé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,730
- “pause” frequency rank
- #1,830
- “pensé” frequency rank
- 4560
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pause | pensé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspension ou interruption momentanée d’une action. | Qui est imaginé, conçu. |
Where the eye mixes pause and pensé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pause with pensé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pause is \poz\ while pensé is \pɑ̃.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4560, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pause is recorded at frequency rank #2,730, classified as anoun, pronounced \poz\. pensé is at rank #1,830, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɑ̃.se\.
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 4560, this pair ranks #431,303 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pause vs pensé
Shared letters: eps. Private to "pause": au. Private to "pensé": né.
"pause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "pensé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pause ← apuse · pasue · paues · pausse · ppause · puase
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pause" and "pensé" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pause" or "pensé"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pause" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pensé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,303 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pause" and "pensé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pause vs prude". 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 #431,303 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.