Which to use
“poutre” and “poutres” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,725
- “poutre” frequency rank
- #18,024
- “poutres” frequency rank
- 33749
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poutre | poutres |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pièce de bois de forme allongée, servant dans les constructions à supporter une charpente ou un parquet. | Pluriel de poutre. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set poutre and poutres apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
poutre and poutres 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 1 extra letter(s) - “poutre” sits inside “poutres” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poutre is recorded at frequency rank #15,725, classified as anoun, pronounced \putʁ\. poutres is at rank #18,024, tagged as anoun, pronounced \putʁ\.
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 33749, this pair ranks #288,523 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poutre" and "poutres" be used interchangeably?
Remembering poutre vs poutres
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “poutre” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable