poursuivevspoursuiviesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: poursuive is a verb, poursuivies is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“poursuive” is a verb and “poursuivies” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#36,538
“poursuive” frequency rank
#25,773
“poursuivies” frequency rank
62311
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poursuive poursuivies
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de poursuivre. Féminin pluriel de poursuivi.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poursuive and poursuivies apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
poursuive
11 ch
poursuivies

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

poursuive and poursuivies form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62311, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poursuive is recorded at frequency rank #36,538, classified as averb, pronounced \puʁ.sɥiv\. poursuivies is at rank #25,773, tagged as anadj, pronounced \puʁ.sɥi.vi\.

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 62311, this pair ranks #87,797 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Frequency comparison

poursuive#36,538
poursuivies#25,773

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "poursuive" and "poursuivies" be used interchangeably?
No, "poursuive" and "poursuivies" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering poursuive vs poursuivies

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “poursuive”; for an adjective, it's “poursuivies”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “poursuive” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list