Which to use
“pouvions” and “pouvons” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #15,462
- “pouvions” frequency rank
- #1,930
- “pouvons” frequency rank
- 17392
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pouvions | pouvons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du pluriel de l’imparfait de pouvoir. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes pouvions and pouvons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pouvions runs 8 letters (CVVCVVCC) against pouvons's 7 (CVVCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pouvions and pouvons
A purely visual mix-up. pouvions (\pu.vjɔ̃\) and pouvons (\pu.vɔ̃\) 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 17392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pouvions is recorded at frequency rank #15,462, classified as averb, pronounced \pu.vjɔ̃\. pouvons is at rank #1,930, tagged as averb, pronounced \pu.vɔ̃\.
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 17392, this pair ranks #383,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pouvions vs pouvons
Shared letters: nopsuv. Private to "pouvions": i. Private to "pouvons": -.
"pouvions" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVCC · "pouvons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pouvions" and "pouvons" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pouvions" or "pouvons"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pouvions" and "pouvons" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pouvions" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pouvons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #383,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pouvions" and "pouvons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "potions vs pouvions". 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 #383,397 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.