Which to use
“puer” and “pût” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #37,014
- “puer” frequency rank
- #36,553
- “pût” frequency rank
- 73567
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | puer | pût |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Sentir mauvais. | Troisième personne du singulier de l’imparfait du subjonctif du verbe pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes puer and pût
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: puer vs pût
A purely visual mix-up. puer (\pɥe\) and pût (\py\) 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 73567, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
puer is recorded at frequency rank #37,014, classified as averb, pronounced \pɥe\. pût is at rank #36,553, tagged as averb, pronounced \py\.
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 73567, this pair ranks #40,018 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of puer vs pût
Shared letters: p. Private to "puer": eru. Private to "pût": tû.
"puer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "pût" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- puer ← ppuer · puerr
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "puer" for "pût" ever safe?
Which is more common, "puer" or "pût"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "puer" and "pût" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "puer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pût" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #40,018 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "puer" and "pût" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prep vs puer". 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 #40,018 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.