pépitesvspètesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,122
“pépites” frequency rank
#48,737
“pètes” frequency rank
67859
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pépites pètes
Definition Pluriel de pépite. Pluriel de pète.

Where the eye mixes pépites and pètes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pépites runs 7 letters (CVCVCVC) against pètes's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
pépites
5 ch
pètes

Look-alike desk: pépites vs pètes

A purely visual mix-up. pépites (\pe.pit\) and pètes (\pɛt\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 67859, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pépites is recorded at frequency rank #19,122, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.pit\. pètes is at rank #48,737, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛt\.

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 67859, this pair ranks #61,633 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pépites vs pètes

Shared letters: epst. Private to "pépites": ié. Private to "pètes": è.

"pépites" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pètes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pépites" and "pètes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\pe.pit\ versus \pɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pépites" or "pètes"?
"pépites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,122 in our French list, against #48,737 for "pètes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pépites" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pètes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #61,633 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pépites" and "pètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs pètes". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #61,633 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