Which to use
“poindre” and “prendre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,458
- “poindre” frequency rank
- #198
- “prendre” frequency rank
- 41656
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poindre | prendre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Piquer quelqu'un ou quelque chose. | Saisir, mettre en sa main. |
Where the eye mixes poindre and prendre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. poindre (CVVCCCV) and prendre (CCVCCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: poindre vs prendre
A purely visual mix-up. poindre (\pwɛ̃dʁ\) and prendre (\pʁɑ̃dʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41656, 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\. prendre is at rank #198, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɑ̃dʁ\.
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 41656, this pair ranks #231,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poindre vs prendre
Shared letters: denpr. Private to "poindre": io. Private to "prendre": -.
"poindre" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCCV · "prendre" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poindre" and "prendre" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "poindre" or "prendre"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "poindre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prendre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #231,463 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poindre" and "prendre" 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 #231,463 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.