Which to use
“puiser” and “puisses” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,120
- “puiser” frequency rank
- #14,337
- “puisses” frequency rank
- 33457
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | puiser | puisses |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prendre de l’eau dans un puits. | Deuxième personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes puiser and puisses
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: puiser vs puisses
A purely visual mix-up. puiser (\pɥi.ze\) and puisses (\pɥis\) 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 33457, 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\. puisses is at rank #14,337, 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 33457, this pair ranks #290,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of puiser vs puisses
Shared letters: eipsu. Private to "puiser": r. Private to "puisses": -.
"puiser" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "puisses" · 7 letters · shape CVVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "puiser" for "puisses" ever safe?
Which is more common, "puiser" or "puisses"?
After this comparison
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 "puisses" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #290,516 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "puiser" and "puisses" 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 #290,516 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.