Which to use
“poulains” and “putains” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #34,260
- “poulains” frequency rank
- #10,056
- “putains” frequency rank
- 44316
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poulains | putains |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poulain. | Pluriel de putain. |
Where the eye mixes poulains and putains
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poulains runs 8 letters (CVVCVVCC) against putains's 7 (CVCVVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poulains vs putains
A purely visual mix-up. poulains (\pu.lɛ̃\) and putains (\py.tɛ̃\) 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 44316, 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\. putains is at rank #10,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced \py.tɛ̃\.
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 44316, this pair ranks #211,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poulains vs putains
Shared letters: ainpsu. Private to "poulains": lo. Private to "putains": t.
"poulains" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVCC · "putains" · 7 letters · shape CVCVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poulains" and "putains" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "poulains" vs "putains" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "poulains" and "putains" 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 "putains" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #211,372 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poulains" and "putains" 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 #211,372 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.