Which to use
“potins” and “provins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,124
- “potins” frequency rank
- #32,965
- “provins” frequency rank
- 65089
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | potins | provins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de potin. | Pluriel de provin. |
Where the eye mixes potins and provins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. potins runs 6 letters (CVCVCC) against provins's 7 (CCVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses potins with provins
A purely visual mix-up. potins (\pɔ.tɛ̃\) and provins (\pʁɔ.vɛ̃\) 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 65089, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
potins is recorded at frequency rank #32,124, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɔ.tɛ̃\. provins is at rank #32,965, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.vɛ̃\.
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 65089, this pair ranks #73,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of potins vs provins
Shared letters: inops. Private to "potins": t. Private to "provins": rv.
"potins" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "provins" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "potins" for "provins" ever safe?
Frequency check: "potins" vs "provins" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "potins" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "provins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,888 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "potins" and "provins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "potiers vs potins". 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 #73,888 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.