Which to use
“puissance” and “puissances” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,188
- “puissance” frequency rank
- #6,337
- “puissances” frequency rank
- 7525
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | puissance | puissances |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pouvoir d’imposer son autorité. | Pluriel de puissance. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set puissance and puissances apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
This is the hard kind. puissance and puissances are pronounced identically (\pɥi.sɑ̃s\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “puissance” sits inside “puissances”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7525, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
puissance is recorded at frequency rank #1,188, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɥi.sɑ̃s\. puissances is at rank #6,337, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɥi.sɑ̃s\.
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 7525, this pair ranks #422,906 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of puissance vs puissances
Shared letters: aceinpsu. Private to "puissance": -. Private to "puissances": -.
"puissance" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV · "puissances" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- puissance ← piussance · ppuissance · puisance · puisasnce · puissacne · puissancce · puissanec · puissannce
- puissances ← piussances · ppuissances · puisances · puisasnces · puissacnes · puissancces · puissancess · puissancse
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "puissance" and "puissances" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "puissance" or "puissances"?
Remembering puissance vs puissances
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “puissance” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable