Which to use
“pourri” is an adjective and “pourrit” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,227
- “pourri” frequency rank
- #26,478
- “pourrit” frequency rank
- 32705
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pourri | pourrit |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ou Qui est en état de pourriture ou de corruption. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de pourrir. |
Same sound, different letters: pourri vs pourrit
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. pourri runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against pourrit's 7 (CVVCCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - pourri / pourrit
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: pourri and pourrit carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pu.ʁi\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadjective, the other averb, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “pourri” sits inside “pourrit”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pourri is recorded at frequency rank #6,227, classified as anadj, pronounced \pu.ʁi\. pourrit is at rank #26,478, tagged as averb, pronounced \pu.ʁi\.
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 32705, this pair ranks #295,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pourri vs pourrit
Shared letters: iopru. Private to "pourri": -. Private to "pourrit": t.
"pourri" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "pourrit" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pourri" for "pourrit" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pourri" or "pourrit"?
What to do next
"pourri" and "pourrit" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "pourri" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pourrit" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #295,485 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pourri" and "pourrit" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pourries vs pourrit". 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 #295,485 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.