poésiesvspoètesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“poésies” and “poètes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#18,833
“poésies” frequency rank
#8,602
“poètes” frequency rank
27435
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poésies poètes
Definition Pluriel de poésie. Pluriel de poète.

Where the eye mixes poésies and poètes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. poésies runs 7 letters (CVVCVVC) against poètes's 6 (CVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
poésies
6 ch
poètes

Visual trap between poésies and poètes

A purely visual mix-up. poésies (\pɔ.e.zi\) and poètes (\pɔ.ɛt\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poésies is recorded at frequency rank #18,833, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.e.zi\. poètes is at rank #8,602, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.ɛt\.

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 27435, this pair ranks #328,967 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of poésies vs poètes

Shared letters: eops. Private to "poésies": ié. Private to "poètes": tè.

"poésies" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVVC  ·  "poètes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "poésies" and "poètes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\pɔ.e.zi\ versus \pɔ.ɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "poésies" or "poètes" show up more?
"poètes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,602 in our French list, against #18,833 for "poésies". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "poésies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "poètes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #328,967 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "poésies" and "poètes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poésies vs polies". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #328,967 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list