Which to use
“pensai” is a verb and “pensé” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,594
- “pensai” frequency rank
- #1,830
- “pensé” frequency rank
- 45424
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pensai | pensé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du passé simple de penser. | Qui est imaginé, conçu. |
Same sound, different letters: pensai vs pensé
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. pensai runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against pensé's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - pensai / pensé
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: pensai and pensé carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pɑ̃.se\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45424, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pensai is recorded at frequency rank #43,594, classified as averb, pronounced \pɑ̃.se\. pensé is at rank #1,830, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɑ̃.se\.
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 45424, this pair ranks #202,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pensai vs pensé
Shared letters: enps. Private to "pensai": ai. Private to "pensé": é.
"pensai" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "pensé" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pensai ← epnsai · penasi · pennsai · pensia · penssai · pesnai · pnesai · ppensai
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pensai" and "pensé" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pensai" vs "pensé" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"pensai" and "pensé" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "pensai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pensé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #202,803 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pensai" and "pensé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pendait vs pensai". 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 #202,803 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.