potvsproTell them apart

Which to use

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

#3,954
“pot” frequency rank
#1,039
“pro” frequency rank
4993
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pot pro
Definition Vase de terre, verre, métal, plastique ou autre matière servant à divers usages. Professionnel, professionnelle.

Where the eye mixes pot and pro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
pot
3 ch
pro

Look-alike desk: pot vs pro

A purely visual mix-up. pot (\po\) and pro (\pʁo\) 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 4993, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pot is recorded at frequency rank #3,954, classified as anoun, pronounced \po\. pro is at rank #1,039, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁo\.

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 4993, this pair ranks #430,184 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pot vs pro

Shared letters: op. Private to "pot": t. Private to "pro": r.

"pot" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pot" for "pro" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\po\ versus \pʁo\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pot" or "pro"?
"pro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,039 in our French list, against #3,954 for "pot". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #430,184 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pot" and "pro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs pot". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #430,184 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