Which to use
“poire” and “poivre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,720
- “poire” frequency rank
- #10,209
- “poivre” frequency rank
- 25929
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poire | poivre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fruit à pépin, de saveur agréable, ordinairement de forme oblongue, et qui va en diminuant vers la queue. | Épice obtenue à partir des baies de quatre espèces de poivriers, plantes de la famille des Piperaceae (Pipéracées). |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poire and poivre apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
poire and poivre form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25929, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poire is recorded at frequency rank #15,720, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwaʁ\. poivre is at rank #10,209, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwavʁ\.
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 25929, this pair ranks #338,053 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poire" and "poivre" be used interchangeably?
Remembering poire vs poivre
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “poire” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable