Which to use
“ponctuée” and “ponctuels” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #28,697
- “ponctuée” frequency rank
- #30,310
- “ponctuels” frequency rank
- 59007
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ponctuée | ponctuels |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Féminin singulier de ponctué. | Masculin pluriel de ponctuel. |
Where the eye mixes ponctuée and ponctuels
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. ponctuée runs 8 letters (CVCCCVVV) against ponctuels's 9 (CVCCCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ponctuée vs ponctuels
A purely visual mix-up. ponctuée (\pɔ̃k.tɥe\) and ponctuels (\pɔ̃k.tɥɛl\) 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 59007, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ponctuée is recorded at frequency rank #28,697, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɔ̃k.tɥe\. ponctuels is at rank #30,310, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɔ̃k.tɥɛl\.
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 59007, this pair ranks #105,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ponctuée vs ponctuels
Shared letters: cenoptu. Private to "ponctuée": é. Private to "ponctuels": ls.
"ponctuée" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVV · "ponctuels" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- ponctuels ← opnctuels · pnoctuels · pocntuels · poncctuels · poncteuls · poncttuels · ponctuells · ponctuelss
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ponctuée" for "ponctuels" ever safe?
Frequency check: "ponctuée" vs "ponctuels" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ponctuée" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ponctuels" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #105,621 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ponctuée" and "ponctuels" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ponctuelles vs ponctuels". 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 #105,621 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.