Which to use
“peindre” and “pondre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,607
- “peindre” frequency rank
- #22,035
- “pondre” frequency rank
- 29642
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peindre | pondre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Enduire ou couvrir de peinture, de couleur ou de pigments. | Faire, déposer un ou des œufs. |
Where the eye mixes peindre and pondre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. peindre runs 7 letters (CVVCCCV) against pondre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: peindre vs pondre
A purely visual mix-up. peindre (\pɛ̃dʁ\) and pondre (\pɔ̃dʁ\) 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 29642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peindre is recorded at frequency rank #7,607, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛ̃dʁ\. pondre is at rank #22,035, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔ̃dʁ\.
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 29642, this pair ranks #315,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of peindre vs pondre
Shared letters: denpr. Private to "peindre": i. Private to "pondre": o.
"peindre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "pondre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "peindre" and "pondre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "peindre" or "pondre" show up more?
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 "peindre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pondre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #315,396 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peindre" and "pondre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pondérée vs pondre". 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 #315,396 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.