Which to use
“polies” is an adjective and “proies” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #43,074
- “polies” frequency rank
- #21,121
- “proies” frequency rank
- 64195
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | polies | proies |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin pluriel de poli. | Pluriel de proie. |
Where the eye mixes polies and proies
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. polies (CVCVVC) and proies (CCVVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses polies with proies
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: polies is \po.li\ while proies is \pʁwa\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
polies is recorded at frequency rank #43,074, classified as anadj, pronounced \po.li\. proies is at rank #21,121, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁwa\.
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 64195, this pair ranks #78,244 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of polies vs proies
Shared letters: eiops. Private to "polies": l. Private to "proies": r.
"polies" · 6 letters · shape CVCVVC · "proies" · 6 letters · shape CCVVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "polies" for "proies" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "polies" or "proies" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "polies" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proies" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #78,244 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "polies" and "proies" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poilues vs polies". 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 #78,244 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.