Which to use
“piquer” is a verb and “piqués” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #8,286
- “piquer” frequency rank
- #48,104
- “piqués” frequency rank
- 56390
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | piquer | piqués |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Percer, entamer légèrement avec quelque chose de pointu ; enfoncer, faire pénétrer une pointe. | Masculin pluriel de piqué. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set piquer and piqués apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: piquer and piqués carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pi.ke\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anadjective, 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 56390, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
piquer is recorded at frequency rank #8,286, classified as averb, pronounced \pi.ke\. piqués is at rank #48,104, tagged as anadj, 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 56390, this pair ranks #121,370 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of piquer vs piqués
Shared letters: ipqu. Private to "piquer": er. Private to "piqués": sé.
"piquer" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "piqués" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- piquer ← ipquer · piqeur · piqquer · piquerr · piqure · piuqer · ppiquer · pqiuer
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "piquer" and "piqués" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "piquer" or "piqués"?
Remembering piquer vs piqués
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “piquer”; for an adjective, it's “piqués”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “piquer” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable