potvsptsConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,954
“pot” frequency rank
#13,041
“pts” frequency rank
16995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pot pts
Definition Vase de terre, verre, métal, plastique ou autre matière servant à divers usages. Pluriel de pᵗ.

Where the eye mixes pot and pts

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

3 ch
pot
3 ch
pts

Look-alike desk: pot vs pts

A purely visual mix-up. pot (\po\) and pts (\pɔ̃\) 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 16995, 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\. pts is at rank #13,041, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɔ̃\.

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 16995, this pair ranks #385,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pot vs pts

Shared letters: pt. Private to "pot": o. Private to "pts": s.

"pot" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pts" · 3 letters · shape CCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pot" and "pts" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\po\ versus \pɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pot" or "pts"?
"pot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,954 in our French list, against #13,041 for "pts". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pot" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pts" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #385,301 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pot" and "pts" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs pts". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #385,301 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