Which to use
“poules” and “prunes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,882
- “poules” frequency rank
- #29,925
- “prunes” frequency rank
- 37807
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poules | prunes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de poule. | Pluriel de prune. |
Where the eye mixes poules and prunes
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between poules and prunes
A purely visual mix-up. poules (\pul\) and prunes (\pʁyn\) 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 37807, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poules is recorded at frequency rank #7,882, classified as anoun, pronounced \pul\. prunes is at rank #29,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁyn\.
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 37807, this pair ranks #259,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poules vs prunes
Shared letters: epsu. Private to "poules": lo. Private to "prunes": nr.
"poules" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "prunes" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poules" for "prunes" ever safe?
Which is more common, "poules" or "prunes"?
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 "poules" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prunes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #259,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poules" and "prunes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prude vs prunes". 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 #259,800 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.