Which to use
“puiser” and “puisse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,120
- “puiser” frequency rank
- #909
- “puisse” frequency rank
- 20029
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | puiser | puisse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prendre de l’eau dans un puits. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes puiser and puisse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. puiser (CVVCVC) and puisse (CVVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between puiser and puisse
A purely visual mix-up. puiser (\pɥi.ze\) and puisse (\pɥis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20029, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
puiser is recorded at frequency rank #19,120, classified as averb, pronounced \pɥi.ze\. puisse is at rank #909, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɥis\.
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 20029, this pair ranks #370,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of puiser vs puisse
Shared letters: eipsu. Private to "puiser": r. Private to "puisse": -.
"puiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "puisse" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "puiser" and "puisse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "puiser" vs "puisse" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "puiser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "puisse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #370,297 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "puiser" and "puisse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "priseur vs puiser". 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 #370,297 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.