publivspubliezWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: publi is a noun, publiez is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“publi” is a noun and “publiez” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#32,538
“publi” frequency rank
#44,118
“publiez” frequency rank
76656
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature publi publiez
Definition Publication (scientifique). Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de publier.

Where the eye mixes publi and publiez

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
publi
7 ch
publiez

Why the eye confuses publi with publiez

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: publi is \py.bli\ while publiez is \py.bli.je\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “publi” sits inside “publiez”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76656, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

publi is recorded at frequency rank #32,538, classified as anoun, pronounced \py.bli\. publiez is at rank #44,118, tagged as averb, pronounced \py.bli.je\.

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 76656, this pair ranks #30,524 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of publi vs publiez

Shared letters: bilpu. Private to "publi": -. Private to "publiez": ez.

"publi" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "publiez" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • publipbuli · ppubli · pubbli · pubil · publli · pulbi · upbli
  • publiezpbuliez · ppubliez · pubbliez · pubilez · publeiz · publiezz · publize · publliez

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "publi" and "publiez" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "publi" is a noun and "publiez" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "publi" vs "publiez" - which ranks higher?
"publi" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,538 in our French list, against #44,118 for "publiez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "publi" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "publiez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,524 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "publi" and "publiez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "publ vs publi". 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 #30,524 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list