Which to use
“peux” is a verb and “piteux” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #203
- “peux” frequency rank
- #35,642
- “piteux” frequency rank
- 35845
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | peux | piteux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de pouvoir. | Qui est digne de pitié, de compassion ; qui est propre à exciter la pitié, la compassion. |
Where the eye mixes peux and piteux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. peux runs 4 letters (CVVC) against piteux's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between peux and piteux
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: peux is \pø\ while piteux is \pi.tø\. 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 (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
peux is recorded at frequency rank #203, classified as averb, pronounced \pø\. piteux is at rank #35,642, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pi.tø\.
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 35845, this pair ranks #273,840 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of peux vs piteux
Shared letters: epux. Private to "peux": -. Private to "piteux": it.
"peux" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "piteux" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "peux" for "piteux" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "peux" or "piteux" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "peux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "piteux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #273,840 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "peux" and "piteux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piteux vs poreux". 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 #273,840 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.