Which to use
“pour” is a preposition and “power” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19
- “pour” frequency rank
- #6,987
- “power” frequency rank
- 7006
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pour | power |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Au motif de ; dans le but de ; afin de ; à destination de. | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de powern. |
Where the eye mixes pour and power
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pour vs power
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pour is \puʁ\ while power is \ˈpaʊ̯ɐ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7006, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pour is recorded at frequency rank #19, classified as aprep, pronounced \puʁ\. power is at rank #6,987, tagged as averb, pronounced \ˈpaʊ̯ɐ\.
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 7006, this pair ranks #424,557 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pour vs power
Shared letters: opr. Private to "pour": u. Private to "power": ew.
"pour" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "power" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pour" and "power" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "pour" or "power" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pour" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "power" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #424,557 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pour" and "power" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peler vs power". 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 #424,557 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.