Which to use
“poindre” and “pondre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,458
- “poindre” frequency rank
- #22,035
- “pondre” frequency rank
- 63493
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poindre | pondre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Piquer quelqu'un ou quelque chose. | Faire, déposer un ou des œufs. |
Where the eye mixes poindre and pondre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poindre runs 7 letters (CVVCCCV) against pondre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses poindre with pondre
A purely visual mix-up. poindre (\pwɛ̃dʁ\) and pondre (\pɔ̃dʁ\) 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 63493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poindre is recorded at frequency rank #41,458, classified as averb, pronounced \pwɛ̃dʁ\. pondre is at rank #22,035, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔ̃dʁ\.
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 63493, this pair ranks #81,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of poindre vs pondre
Shared letters: denopr. Private to "poindre": i. Private to "pondre": -.
"poindre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "pondre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poindre" and "pondre" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "poindre" vs "pondre" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "poindre" and "pondre" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poindre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pondre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #81,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poindre" and "pondre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poindre vs pondéré". 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 #81,678 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.