Which to use
“pointes” and “pontet” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,724
- “pointes” frequency rank
- #49,862
- “pontet” frequency rank
- 59586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pointes | pontet |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chaussures à pointes. | Partie demi-circulaire de la sous-garde d’un fusil, d’un pistolet. |
Where the eye mixes pointes and pontet
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pointes runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against pontet's 6 (CVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pointes and pontet
A purely visual mix-up. pointes (\pwɛ̃t\) and pontet (\pɔ̃.tɛ\) 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 59586, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pointes is recorded at frequency rank #9,724, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwɛ̃t\. pontet is at rank #49,862, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ̃.tɛ\.
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 59586, this pair ranks #102,333 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pointes vs pontet
Shared letters: enopt. Private to "pointes": is. Private to "pontet": -.
"pointes" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "pontet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pointes" and "pontet" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pointes" or "pontet"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pointes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pontet" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,333 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pointes" and "pontet" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pintes vs pontet". 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 #102,333 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.