Which to use
“plais” is a verb and “pubis” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #13,865
- “plais” frequency rank
- #45,256
- “pubis” frequency rank
- 59121
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | plais | pubis |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de plaire. | Os situé à la partie antérieure et supérieure du bassin, l'un des trois os pelviens (soudés pour former l’os coxal). |
Where the eye mixes plais and pubis
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses plais with pubis
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: plais is \plɛ\ while pubis is \py.bis\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
plais is recorded at frequency rank #13,865, classified as averb, pronounced \plɛ\. pubis is at rank #45,256, tagged as anoun, pronounced \py.bis\.
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 59121, this pair ranks #104,955 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of plais vs pubis
Shared letters: ips. Private to "plais": al. Private to "pubis": bu.
"plais" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC · "pubis" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "plais" for "pubis" ever safe?
Frequency check: "plais" vs "pubis" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "plais" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pubis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #104,955 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "plais" and "pubis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pubis vs purin". 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 #104,955 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.