Which to use
“pois” and “putois” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,891
- “pois” frequency rank
- #46,379
- “putois” frequency rank
- 56270
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pois | putois |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacune des graines, de forme ronde, et enfermées dans une cosse verte, d’une espèce de fabacée (légumineuse) papilionacée. | Petit quadrupède carnivore dont la peau sert à faire des fourrures, possédant une glande libérant une puanteur en cas de peur. |
Where the eye mixes pois and putois
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pois runs 4 letters (CVVC) against putois's 6 (CVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pois and putois
A purely visual mix-up. pois (\pwa\) and putois (\py.twa\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 56270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pois is recorded at frequency rank #9,891, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa\. putois is at rank #46,379, tagged as anoun, pronounced \py.twa\.
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 56270, this pair ranks #122,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pois vs putois
Shared letters: iops. Private to "pois": -. Private to "putois": tu.
"pois" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "putois" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pois" and "putois" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pois" vs "putois" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pois" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "putois" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #122,142 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pois" and "putois" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pubis vs putois". 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 #122,142 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.