Which to use
“posséder” and “possédez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,986
- “posséder” frequency rank
- #27,191
- “possédez” frequency rank
- 34177
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | posséder | possédez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Avoir à soi, en son pouvoir ; avoir la propriété ou la possession de. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de posséder. |
Same sound, different letters: posséder vs possédez
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. posséder and possédez follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Same sound, different spelling - posséder / possédez
This is the hard kind. posséder and possédez are pronounced identically (\pɔ.se.de\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “posséder” becomes z in “possédez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34177, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
posséder is recorded at frequency rank #6,986, classified as averb, pronounced \pɔ.se.de\. 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 34177, this pair ranks #285,627 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of posséder vs possédez
Shared letters: deopsé. Private to "posséder": r. Private to "possédez": z.
"posséder" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "possédez" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "posséder" for "possédez" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "posséder" or "possédez" show up more?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "posséder" 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 #285,627 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "posséder" and "possédez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "possédés vs possédez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #285,627 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.