Which to use
“pointée” is an adjective and “pointes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #32,528
- “pointée” frequency rank
- #9,724
- “pointes” frequency rank
- 42252
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pointée | pointes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de pointé. | Chaussures à pointes. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pointée and pointes apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pointée is \pwɛ̃.te\ while pointes is \pwɛ̃t\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42252, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pointée is recorded at frequency rank #32,528, classified as anadj, pronounced \pwɛ̃.te\. pointes is at rank #9,724, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwɛ̃t\.
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 42252, this pair ranks #227,023 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pointée vs pointes
Shared letters: einopt. Private to "pointée": é. Private to "pointes": s.
"pointée" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVV · "pointes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pointes ← opintes · piontes · poinets · poinntes · pointess · pointse · pointtes · poitnes
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pointée" and "pointes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pointée" or "pointes"?
Remembering pointée vs pointes
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pointée”; for a noun, it's “pointes”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pointée” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable