Which to use
“pètes” is a noun and “prêtées” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #48,737
- “pètes” frequency rank
- #47,543
- “prêtées” frequency rank
- 96280
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pètes | prêtées |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pète. | Féminin pluriel de prêté. |
Where the eye mixes pètes and prêtées
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pètes runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against prêtées's 7 (CCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pètes and prêtées
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pètes is \pɛt\ while prêtées is \pʁɛ.te\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 96280, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pètes is recorded at frequency rank #48,737, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛt\. prêtées is at rank #47,543, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɛ.te\.
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 96280, this pair ranks #737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pètes vs prêtées
Shared letters: epst. Private to "pètes": è. Private to "prêtées": réê.
"pètes" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "prêtées" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pètes" for "prêtées" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pètes" or "prêtées" show up more?
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 "pètes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prêtées" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pètes" and "prêtées" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs pètes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #737 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.