peinsvspleineWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: peins is a verb, pleine is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“peins” is a verb and “pleine” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#48,098
“peins” frequency rank
#1,146
“pleine” frequency rank
49244
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peins pleine
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de peindre. Féminin singulier de plein.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set peins and pleine apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
peins
6 ch
pleine

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: peins is \pɛ̃\ while pleine is \plɛn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49244, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peins is recorded at frequency rank #48,098, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛ̃\. pleine is at rank #1,146, tagged as anadj, pronounced \plɛn\.

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 49244, this pair ranks #172,217 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of peins vs pleine

Shared letters: einp. Private to "peins": s. Private to "pleine": l.

"peins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "pleine" · 6 letters · shape CCVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peinsepins · peinns · peinss · peisn · piens · ppeins
  • pleinelpeine · peline · pleien · pleinne · plenie · pliene · plleine · ppleine

Frequency comparison

peins#48,098
pleine#1,146

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peins" and "pleine" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "peins" is a verb and "pleine" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "peins" or "pleine"?
"pleine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,146 in our French list, against #48,098 for "peins". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering peins vs pleine

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “peins”; for an adjective, it's “pleine”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “peins” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list