Which to use
“poulains” and “poussins” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,260
- “poulains” frequency rank
- #23,318
- “poussins” frequency rank
- 57578
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poulains | poussins |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poulain. | Pluriel de poussin. |
Where the eye mixes poulains and poussins
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poulains (CVVCVVCC) and poussins (CVVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses poulains with poussins
A purely visual mix-up. poulains (\pu.lɛ̃\) and poussins (\pu.sɛ̃\) 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 57578, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poulains is recorded at frequency rank #34,260, classified as anoun, pronounced \pu.lɛ̃\. poussins is at rank #23,318, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pu.sɛ̃\.
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 57578, this pair ranks #114,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poulains vs poussins
Shared letters: inopsu. Private to "poulains": al. Private to "poussins": -.
"poulains" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVCC · "poussins" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "poulains" and "poussins" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "poulains" or "poussins"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "poulains" and "poussins" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poulains" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poussins" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #114,197 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poulains" and "poussins" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poulains vs poulin". 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 #114,197 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.