Which to use
“plaindre” is a verb and “plainte” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,267
- “plaindre” frequency rank
- #2,536
- “plainte” frequency rank
- 6803
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plaindre | plainte |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prendre en pitié les maux d’autrui, en être touché, témoigner la compassion que l’on éprouve pour quelqu’un. | Gémissement ; lamentation. |
Where the eye mixes plaindre and plainte
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. plaindre runs 8 letters (CCVVCCCV) against plainte's 7 (CCVVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between plaindre and plainte
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: plaindre is \plɛ̃dʁ\ while plainte is \plɛ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plaindre is recorded at frequency rank #4,267, classified as averb, pronounced \plɛ̃dʁ\. plainte is at rank #2,536, tagged as anoun, pronounced \plɛ̃t\.
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 6803, this pair ranks #425,183 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of plaindre vs plainte
Shared letters: aeilnp. Private to "plaindre": dr. Private to "plainte": t.
"plaindre" · 8 letters · shape CCVVCCCV · "plainte" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "plaindre" for "plainte" ever safe?
Frequency check: "plaindre" vs "plainte" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "plaindre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "plainte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #425,183 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plaindre" and "plainte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plaigne vs plainte". 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 #425,183 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.