Which to use
“positifs” and “positive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,543
- “positifs” frequency rank
- #4,011
- “positive” frequency rank
- 10554
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | positifs | positive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de positif. | Féminin singulier de positif. |
Where the eye mixes positifs and positive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. positifs (CVCVCVCC) and positive (CVCVCVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between positifs and positive
A purely visual mix-up. positifs (\pɔ.zi.tif\) and positive (\pɔ.zi.tiv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10554, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
positifs is recorded at frequency rank #6,543, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɔ.zi.tif\. positive is at rank #4,011, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɔ.zi.tiv\.
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 10554, this pair ranks #412,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of positifs vs positive
Shared letters: iopst. Private to "positifs": f. Private to "positive": ev.
"positifs" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCC · "positive" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "positifs" and "positive" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "positifs" or "positive" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "positifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "positive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #412,550 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "positifs" and "positive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "positive vs positivité". 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 #412,550 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.