possèdentvspossédezWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,486
“possèdent” frequency rank
#27,191
“possédez” frequency rank
32677
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature possèdent possédez
Definition Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de posséder. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de posséder.

Where the eye mixes possèdent and possédez

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. possèdent runs 9 letters (CVCCVCVCC) against possédez's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

9 ch
possèdent
8 ch
possédez

Look-alike desk: possèdent vs possédez

A purely visual mix-up. possèdent (\pɔ.sɛd\) and possédez (\pɔ.se.de\) 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 32677, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

possèdent is recorded at frequency rank #5,486, classified as averb, pronounced \pɔ.sɛd\. possédez is at rank #27,191, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɔ.se.de\.

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 32677, this pair ranks #295,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of possèdent vs possédez

Shared letters: deops. Private to "possèdent": ntè. Private to "possédez": zé.

"possèdent" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCC  ·  "possédez" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "possèdent" and "possédez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɔ.sɛd\ versus \pɔ.se.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "possèdent" or "possédez"?
"possèdent" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,486 in our French list, against #27,191 for "possédez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "possèdent" and "possédez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "possèdent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "possédez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #295,689 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "possèdent" and "possédez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "possédés vs possédez". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #295,689 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list