Which to use
“pou” and “promu” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,869
- “pou” frequency rank
- #11,109
- “promu” frequency rank
- 24978
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pou | promu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Très petit insecte parasite sans ailes qui s’attache à plusieurs espèces d’animaux dont l’humain, agent de phtiriase et pouvant transmettre des maladies. | Personne qui a reçu une promotion. |
Where the eye mixes pou and promu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pou with promu
A purely visual mix-up. pou (\pu\) and promu (\pʁɔ.my\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24978, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pou is recorded at frequency rank #13,869, classified as anoun, pronounced \pu\. promu is at rank #11,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.my\.
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 24978, this pair ranks #343,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pou vs promu
Shared letters: opu. Private to "pou": -. Private to "promu": mr.
"pou" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "promu" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- promu ← pormu · ppromu · prmou · prommu · proum · prromu · rpomu
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pou" for "promu" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pou" or "promu"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "promu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #343,479 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pou" and "promu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs pou". 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 #343,479 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.