Which to use
“pouvoirs” is a noun and “pouvons” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,967
- “pouvoirs” frequency rank
- #1,930
- “pouvons” frequency rank
- 3897
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pouvoirs | pouvons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de pouvoir. | Première personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes pouvoirs and pouvons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. pouvoirs 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.
Why the eye confuses pouvoirs with pouvons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pouvoirs is \pu.vwaʁ\ while pouvons is \pu.vɔ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3897, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pouvoirs is recorded at frequency rank #1,967, classified as anoun, pronounced \pu.vwaʁ\. 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 3897, this pair ranks #432,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pouvoirs vs pouvons
Shared letters: opsuv. Private to "pouvoirs": ir. Private to "pouvons": n.
"pouvoirs" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVVCC · "pouvons" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pouvoirs" for "pouvons" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pouvoirs" or "pouvons"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pouvoirs" 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 #432,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pouvoirs" and "pouvons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "potions vs pouvons". 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 #432,951 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.