Which to use
“pause” and “pouce” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,730
- “pause” frequency rank
- #5,388
- “pouce” frequency rank
- 8118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pause | pouce |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Suspension ou interruption momentanée d’une action. | Le plus gros et court des doigts de la main, opposable aux autres. |
Where the eye mixes pause and pouce
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pause with pouce
A purely visual mix-up. pause (\poz\) and pouce (\pus\) 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 8118, 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\. pouce is at rank #5,388, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pus\.
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 8118, this pair ranks #421,062 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pause vs pouce
Shared letters: epu. Private to "pause": as. Private to "pouce": co.
"pause" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "pouce" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pause" and "pouce" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pause" or "pouce"?
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 "pouce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #421,062 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pause" and "pouce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pouce 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 #421,062 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.