puissantevspuissantesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“puissante” and “puissantes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#4,608
“puissante” frequency rank
#10,216
“puissantes” frequency rank
14824
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature puissante puissantes
Definition Féminin singulier de puissant. Féminin pluriel de puissant.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set puissante and puissantes apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
puissante
10 ch
puissantes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. puissante and puissantes are pronounced identically (\pɥi.sɑ̃t\) and both work as anadjective. 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) - “puissante” sits inside “puissantes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14824, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

puissante is recorded at frequency rank #4,608, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɥi.sɑ̃t\. puissantes is at rank #10,216, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɥi.sɑ̃t\.

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 14824, this pair ranks #395,069 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of puissante vs puissantes

Shared letters: aeinpstu. Private to "puissante": -. Private to "puissantes": -.

"puissante" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV  ·  "puissantes" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • puissantepiussante · ppuissante · puisante · puisasnte · puissanet · puissannte · puissantte · puissatne
  • puissantespiussantes · ppuissantes · puisantes · puisasntes · puissanets · puissanntes · puissantess · puissantse

Frequency comparison

puissante#4,608
puissantes#10,216

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "puissante" and "puissantes" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pɥi.sɑ̃t\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "puissante" or "puissantes"?
"puissante" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,608 in our French list, against #10,216 for "puissantes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering puissante vs puissantes

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 “puissante” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list