Which to use
“pourvu” and “pourvues” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,757
- “pourvu” frequency rank
- #36,106
- “pourvues” frequency rank
- 44863
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pourvu | pourvues |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de pourvoir. | Participe passé féminin pluriel de pourvoir. |
Same sound, different letters: pourvu vs pourvues
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 6 letters. pourvu runs 6 letters (CVVCCV) against pourvues's 8 (CVVCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - pourvu / pourvues
This is the hard kind. pourvu and pourvues are pronounced identically (\puʁ.vy\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pourvu” sits inside “pourvues”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44863, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pourvu is recorded at frequency rank #8,757, classified as averb, pronounced \puʁ.vy\. pourvues is at rank #36,106, tagged as averb, pronounced \puʁ.vy\.
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 44863, this pair ranks #207,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pourvu vs pourvues
Shared letters: opruv. Private to "pourvu": -. Private to "pourvues": es.
"pourvu" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV · "pourvues" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pourvu" and "pourvues" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pourvu" vs "pourvues" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Sound matches; spelling doesn't. Use the exits below to lock the right form or check a cousin pair.
- Full dictionary entry for "pourvu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pourvues" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #207,215 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pourvu" and "pourvues" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pourpres vs pourvues". 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 #207,215 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.