Which to use
“poings” and “potins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,210
- “poings” frequency rank
- #32,124
- “potins” frequency rank
- 47334
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poings | potins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poing. | Pluriel de potin. |
Where the eye mixes poings and potins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. poings (CVVCCC) and potins (CVCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses poings with potins
A purely visual mix-up. poings (\pwɛ̃\) and potins (\pɔ.tɛ̃\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47334, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poings is recorded at frequency rank #15,210, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwɛ̃\. potins is at rank #32,124, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.tɛ̃\.
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 47334, this pair ranks #187,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poings vs potins
Shared letters: inops. Private to "poings": g. Private to "potins": t.
"poings" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCC · "potins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poings" and "potins" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "poings" or "potins"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "poings" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "potins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #187,780 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poings" and "potins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "potiers vs potins". 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 #187,780 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.