poitrinevspoitrinesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“poitrine” and “poitrines” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,268
“poitrine” frequency rank
#37,487
“poitrines” frequency rank
41755
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poitrine poitrines
Definition Partie du corps depuis le bas du cou jusqu’au diaphragme, contenant les poumons et le cœur. Pluriel de poitrine.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poitrine and poitrines apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
poitrine
9 ch
poitrines

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. poitrine and poitrines are pronounced identically (\pwa.tʁin\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “poitrine” sits inside “poitrines”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41755, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poitrine is recorded at frequency rank #4,268, classified as anoun, pronounced \pwa.tʁin\. poitrines is at rank #37,487, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pwat.ʁin\.

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 41755, this pair ranks #230,729 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of poitrine vs poitrines

Shared letters: einoprt. Private to "poitrine": -. Private to "poitrines": s.

"poitrine" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV  ·  "poitrines" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • poitrineopitrine · piotrine · poirtine · poitirne · poitrien · poitrinne · poitrnie · poitrrine
  • poitrinesopitrines · piotrines · poirtines · poitirnes · poitriens · poitriness · poitrinnes · poitrinse

Frequency comparison

poitrine#4,268
poitrines#37,487

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "poitrine" and "poitrines" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pwa.tʁin\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "poitrine" or "poitrines"?
"poitrine" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,268 in our French list, against #37,487 for "poitrines". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering poitrine vs poitrines

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 “poitrine” 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