Which to use
“pourrir” and “pourvoir” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,871
- “pourrir” frequency rank
- #8,601
- “pourvoir” frequency rank
- 22472
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pourrir | pourvoir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Se décomposer, fermenter, s'altérer, se corrompre, se gâter sous l’action de bactéries. | Prendre des dispositions pour quelque chose, y aviser, y donner ordre, suppléer à ce qui manque. |
Where the eye mixes pourrir and pourvoir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pourrir runs 7 letters (CVVCCVC) against pourvoir's 8 (CVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pourrir with pourvoir
A purely visual mix-up. pourrir (\pu.ʁiʁ\) and pourvoir (\puʁ.vwaʁ\) 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 22472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pourrir is recorded at frequency rank #13,871, classified as averb, pronounced \pu.ʁiʁ\. pourvoir is at rank #8,601, tagged as averb, pronounced \puʁ.vwaʁ\.
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 22472, this pair ranks #357,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pourrir vs pourvoir
Shared letters: iopru. Private to "pourrir": -. Private to "pourvoir": v.
"pourrir" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC · "pourvoir" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pourrir" for "pourvoir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pourrir" vs "pourvoir" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pourrir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pourvoir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #357,792 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pourrir" and "pourvoir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pourrir 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 #357,792 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.