Which to use
“pierres” and “piqûres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,349
- “pierres” frequency rank
- #21,112
- “piqûres” frequency rank
- 24461
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pierres | piqûres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pierre. | Pluriel de piqûre. |
Where the eye mixes pierres and piqûres
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pierres (CVVCCVC) and piqûres (CVCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pierres with piqûres
A purely visual mix-up. pierres (\pjɛʁ\) and piqûres (\pi.kyʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24461, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pierres is recorded at frequency rank #3,349, classified as anoun, pronounced \pjɛʁ\. piqûres is at rank #21,112, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pi.kyʁ\.
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 24461, this pair ranks #346,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pierres vs piqûres
Shared letters: eiprs. Private to "pierres": -. Private to "piqûres": qû.
"pierres" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "piqûres" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pierres ← iperres · peirres · pierers · pieres · pierress · pierrse · pireres · ppierres
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pierres" for "piqûres" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pierres" vs "piqûres" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pierres" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "piqûres" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #346,504 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pierres" and "piqûres" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pieuses vs piqûres". 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 #346,504 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.