Which to use
“pend” and “peux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,710
- “pend” frequency rank
- #203
- “peux” frequency rank
- 24913
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pend | peux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de pendre. | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes pend and peux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pend vs peux
A purely visual mix-up. pend (\pɑ̃\) and peux (\pø\) 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 24913, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pend is recorded at frequency rank #24,710, classified as averb, pronounced \pɑ̃\. peux is at rank #203, tagged as averb, pronounced \pø\.
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 24913, this pair ranks #343,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pend vs peux
Shared letters: ep. Private to "pend": dn. Private to "peux": ux.
"pend" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "peux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pend" for "peux" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pend" or "peux" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pend" and "peux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pend" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343,868 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pend" and "peux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pend vs pernod". 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 #343,868 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.