pensezvspeserTell them apart

Which to use

“pensez” and “peser” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#1,782
“pensez” frequency rank
#8,751
“peser” frequency rank
10533
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pensez peser
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de penser. Examiner la pesanteur d’une chose, la rapporter à un poids déterminé.

Where the eye mixes pensez and peser

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
pensez
5 ch
peser

Look-alike desk: pensez vs peser

A purely visual mix-up. pensez (\pɑ̃.se\) and peser (\pə.ze\) 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 10533, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pensez is recorded at frequency rank #1,782, classified as averb, pronounced \pɑ̃.se\. peser is at rank #8,751, tagged as averb, pronounced \pə.ze\.

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 10533, this pair ranks #412,630 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pensez vs peser

Shared letters: eps. Private to "pensez": nz. Private to "peser": r.

"pensez" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "peser" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pensezepnsez · penesz · pennsez · pensezz · penssez · pensze · pesnez · pnesez
  • peserepser · peesr · peserr · pesre · pesser · ppeser · pseer

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pensez" for "peser" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pɑ̃.se\ versus \pə.ze\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pensez" vs "peser" - which ranks higher?
"pensez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,782 in our French list, against #8,751 for "peser". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pensez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "peser" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #412,630 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pensez" and "peser" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs peser". 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 #412,630 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list