poivspontWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,426
“poi” frequency rank
#1,452
“pont” frequency rank
41878
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poi pont
Definition Plat polynésien de consistance pâteuse à semi-fluide, mélange de plusieurs fruits ou légumes. Construction élevée d’un bord à l’autre d’une rivière, d’un ruisseau, d’un fossé pour permettre de les traverser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poi and pont apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
poi
4 ch
pont

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. poi (\pɔj\) and pont (\pɔ̃\) 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 41878, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poi is recorded at frequency rank #40,426, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔj\. pont is at rank #1,452, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ̃\.

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 41878, this pair ranks #229,855 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of poi vs pont

Shared letters: op. Private to "poi": i. Private to "pont": nt.

"poi" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "pont" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pontopnt · pnot · ponnt · pontt · potn · ppont

Frequency comparison

poi#40,426
pont#1,452

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "poi" and "pont" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɔj\ versus \pɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "poi" or "pont"?
"pont" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,452 in our French list, against #40,426 for "poi". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering poi vs pont

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “poi” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list