Which to use
“poussent” and “puisent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,288
- “poussent” frequency rank
- #44,119
- “puisent” frequency rank
- 52407
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poussent | puisent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de pousser. | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de puiser. |
Where the eye mixes poussent and puisent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. poussent runs 8 letters (CVVCCVCC) against puisent's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: poussent vs puisent
A purely visual mix-up. poussent (\pus\) and puisent (\pɥiz\) 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 52407, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poussent is recorded at frequency rank #8,288, classified as averb, pronounced \pus\. puisent is at rank #44,119, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɥiz\.
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 52407, this pair ranks #147,930 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poussent vs puisent
Shared letters: enpstu. Private to "poussent": o. Private to "puisent": i.
"poussent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC · "puisent" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poussent" for "puisent" ever safe?
Which is more common, "poussent" or "puisent"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "poussent" and "puisent" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poussent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "puisent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #147,930 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poussent" and "puisent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plient vs puisent". 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 #147,930 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.