Which to use
“pensai” is a verb and “pensées” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,594
- “pensai” frequency rank
- #3,029
- “pensées” frequency rank
- 46623
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pensai | pensées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du passé simple de penser. | Pluriel de pensée. |
Same sound, different letters: pensai vs pensées
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters. pensai runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against pensées's 7 (CVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Homophone desk: pensai vs pensées
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: pensai and pensées carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pɑ̃.se\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, 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 46623, 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\. pensées is at rank #3,029, tagged as anoun, 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 46623, this pair ranks #193,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pensai vs pensées
Shared letters: enps. Private to "pensai": ai. Private to "pensées": é.
"pensai" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV · "pensées" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pensai ← epnsai · penasi · pennsai · pensia · penssai · pesnai · pnesai · ppensai
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pensai" for "pensées" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pensai" vs "pensées" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "pensai" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pensées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #193,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pensai" and "pensées" 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 #193,463 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.