Which to use
“piquée” is an adjective and “piquer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #26,472
- “piquée” frequency rank
- #8,286
- “piquer” frequency rank
- 34758
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | piquée | piquer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de piqué. | Percer, entamer légèrement avec quelque chose de pointu ; enfoncer, faire pénétrer une pointe. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set piquée and piquer apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: piquée and piquer carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pi.ke\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34758, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
piquée is recorded at frequency rank #26,472, classified as anadj, pronounced \pi.ke\. piquer is at rank #8,286, tagged as averb, pronounced \pi.ke\.
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 34758, this pair ranks #281,601 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of piquée vs piquer
Shared letters: eipqu. Private to "piquée": é. Private to "piquer": r.
"piquée" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVV · "piquer" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- piquer ← ipquer · piqeur · piqquer · piquerr · piqure · piuqer · ppiquer · pqiuer
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "piquée" and "piquer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "piquée" or "piquer"?
Remembering piquée vs piquer
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “piquée”; for a verb, it's “piquer”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “piquée” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable