Which to use
“poireaux” and “poteaux” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,211
- “poireaux” frequency rank
- #13,446
- “poteaux” frequency rank
- 48657
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poireaux | poteaux |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poireau. | Pluriel de poteau. |
Where the eye mixes poireaux and poteaux
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poireaux runs 8 letters (CVVCVVVC) against poteaux's 7 (CVCVVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poireaux vs poteaux
A purely visual mix-up. poireaux (\pwa.ʁo\) and poteaux (\pɔ.to\) 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 48657, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poireaux is recorded at frequency rank #35,211, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa.ʁo\. poteaux is at rank #13,446, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.to\.
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 48657, this pair ranks #177,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poireaux vs poteaux
Shared letters: aeopux. Private to "poireaux": ir. Private to "poteaux": t.
"poireaux" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVVC · "poteaux" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poireaux" and "poteaux" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "poireaux" vs "poteaux" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "poireaux" and "poteaux" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poireaux" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poteaux" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #177,076 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poireaux" and "poteaux" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poireaux vs poreux". 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 #177,076 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.