pourrivspourritWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pourri is a adjective, pourrit is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pourri and pourrit apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pourri
7 ch
pourrit

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • pourriopurri · poruri · pouri · pourir · ppourri · puorri
  • pourritopurrit · porurit · pourirt · pourit · pourritt · pourrti · ppourrit · puorrit

Frequency comparison

pourri#6,227
pourrit#26,478

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pourri" and "pourrit" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pourri" is an adjective and "pourrit" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pourri" or "pourrit"?
"pourri" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,227 in our French list, against #26,478 for "pourrit". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pourri vs pourrit

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pourri”; for a verb, it's “pourrit”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pourri” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list