pillésvspolluésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,925
“pillés” frequency rank
#40,931
“pollués” frequency rank
81856
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pillés pollués
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de piller. Participe passé masculin pluriel de polluer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pillés and pollués apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pillés
7 ch
pollués

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pillés (\pi.je\) and pollués (\pɔ.lɥe\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81856, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pillés is recorded at frequency rank #40,925, classified as averb, pronounced \pi.je\. pollués is at rank #40,931, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔ.lɥe\.

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 81856, this pair ranks #17,916 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pillés vs pollués

Shared letters: lpsé. Private to "pillés": i. Private to "pollués": ou.

"pillés" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pollués" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Frequency comparison

pillés#40,925
pollués#40,931

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pillés" and "pollués" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pi.je\ versus \pɔ.lɥe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pillés" or "pollués"?
"pillés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,925 in our French list, against #40,931 for "pollués". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pillés vs pollués

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pillés” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list