Which to use
“pires” and “posés” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,700
- “pires” frequency rank
- #11,460
- “posés” frequency rank
- 16160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pires | posés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pire. | Masculin pluriel de posé. |
Where the eye mixes pires and posés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pires with posés
A purely visual mix-up. pires (\piʁ\) and posés (\po.ze\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 16160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pires is recorded at frequency rank #4,700, classified as anadj, pronounced \piʁ\. posés is at rank #11,460, tagged as anadj, pronounced \po.ze\.
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 16160, this pair ranks #389,097 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pires vs posés
Shared letters: ps. Private to "pires": eir. Private to "posés": oé.
"pires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "posés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pires ← ipres · piers · piress · pirres · ppires
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pires" and "posés" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pires" vs "posés" - 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 "pires" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #389,097 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pires" and "posés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pètes vs posés". 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 #389,097 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.