Which to use
“pères” and “pètes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,596
- “pères” frequency rank
- #48,737
- “pètes” frequency rank
- 54333
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pères | pètes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de père. | Pluriel de pète. |
Where the eye mixes pères and pètes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pères with pètes
A purely visual mix-up. pères (\pɛʁ\) 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 a single letter - r in “pères” becomes t in “pètes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54333, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pères is recorded at frequency rank #5,596, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ\. 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 54333, this pair ranks #134,732 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pères vs pètes
Shared letters: epsè. Private to "pères": r. Private to "pètes": t.
"pères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pètes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pères" and "pètes" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pères" vs "pètes" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pères" and "pètes" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pères" 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 #134,732 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pères" and "pètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs pètes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #134,732 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.