Which to use
“posons” and “pouvons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #31,188
- “posons” frequency rank
- #1,930
- “pouvons” frequency rank
- 33118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | posons | pouvons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de poser. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes posons and pouvons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. posons runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against pouvons's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses posons with pouvons
A purely visual mix-up. posons (\po.zɔ̃\) and pouvons (\pu.vɔ̃\) 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 33118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
posons is recorded at frequency rank #31,188, classified as averb, pronounced \po.zɔ̃\. pouvons is at rank #1,930, tagged as averb, pronounced \pu.vɔ̃\.
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 33118, this pair ranks #292,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of posons vs pouvons
Shared letters: nops. Private to "posons": -. Private to "pouvons": uv.
"posons" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "pouvons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "posons" and "pouvons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "posons" vs "pouvons" - 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 "posons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pouvons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #292,737 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "posons" and "pouvons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "posons vs protons". 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 #292,737 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.