pointuevspointureWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pointue is a adjective, pointure is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pointue” is an adjective and “pointure” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,913
“pointue” frequency rank
#27,914
“pointure” frequency rank
55827
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pointue pointure
Definition Féminin singulier de pointu. Dimension exprimée en point d’un objet quelconque.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pointue and pointure apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
pointue
8 ch
pointure

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pointue is \pwɛ̃.ty\ while pointure is \pwɛ̃.tyʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55827, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pointue is recorded at frequency rank #27,913, classified as anadj, pronounced \pwɛ̃.ty\. pointure is at rank #27,914, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwɛ̃.tyʁ\.

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 55827, this pair ranks #124,975 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pointue vs pointure

Shared letters: einoptu. Private to "pointue": -. Private to "pointure": r.

"pointue" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVV  ·  "pointure" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pointueopintue · piontue · poinntue · pointeu · pointtue · poinute · poitnue · ponitue
  • pointureopinture · pionture · poinnture · pointrue · pointture · pointurre · poinutre · poitnure

Frequency comparison

pointue#27,913
pointure#27,914

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pointue" and "pointure" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pointue" is an adjective and "pointure" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pointue" or "pointure"?
"pointue" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,913 in our French list, against #27,914 for "pointure". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pointue vs pointure

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pointue”; for a noun, it's “pointure”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pointue” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list