pêchesvspètesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pêches” and “pètes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#15,733
“pêches” frequency rank
#48,737
“pètes” frequency rank
64470
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pêches pètes
Definition Pluriel de pêche. Pluriel de pète.

Where the eye mixes pêches and pètes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pêches 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.

6 ch
pêches
5 ch
pètes

Visual trap between pêches and pètes

A purely visual mix-up. pêches (\pɛʃ\) 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 64470, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pêches is recorded at frequency rank #15,733, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʃ\. 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 64470, this pair ranks #76,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pêches vs pètes

Shared letters: eps. Private to "pêches": chê. Private to "pètes": tè.

"pêches" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pètes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pêches" and "pètes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʃ\ versus \pɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pêches" or "pètes"?
"pêches" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,733 in our French list, against #48,737 for "pètes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pêches" 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 #76,936 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pêches" and "pètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs pètes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #76,936 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list