Which to use
“pins” and “plis” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,922
- “pins” frequency rank
- #16,211
- “plis” frequency rank
- 27133
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pins | plis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pin. | Pluriel de pli. |
Where the eye mixes pins and plis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pins (CVCC) and plis (CCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses pins with plis
A purely visual mix-up. pins (\pɛ̃\) and plis (\pli\) 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 27133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pins is recorded at frequency rank #10,922, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛ̃\. plis is at rank #16,211, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pli\.
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 27133, this pair ranks #330,886 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pins vs plis
Shared letters: ips. Private to "pins": n. Private to "plis": l.
"pins" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "plis" · 4 letters · shape CCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pins" for "plis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pins" vs "plis" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pins" and "plis" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #330,886 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pins" and "plis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs plis". 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 #330,886 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.