Which to use
“pensais” and “posais” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,927
- “pensais” frequency rank
- #26,477
- “posais” frequency rank
- 28404
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pensais | posais |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de penser. | Première personne du singulier de l’imparfait de l’indicatif de poser. |
Where the eye mixes pensais and posais
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pensais runs 7 letters (CVCCVVC) against posais's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: pensais vs posais
A purely visual mix-up. pensais (\pɑ̃.sɛ\) and posais (\po.zɛ\) 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 28404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pensais is recorded at frequency rank #1,927, classified as averb, pronounced \pɑ̃.sɛ\. posais is at rank #26,477, tagged as averb, pronounced \po.zɛ\.
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 28404, this pair ranks #323,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pensais vs posais
Shared letters: aips. Private to "pensais": en. Private to "posais": o.
"pensais" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC · "posais" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pensais" and "posais" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pensais" or "posais"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pensais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posais" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #323,065 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pensais" and "posais" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Polaris vs posais". 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 #323,065 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.