Which to use
“ques” is a verb and “qui” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #37,992
- “ques” frequency rank
- #22
- “qui” frequency rank
- 38014
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ques | qui |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de quesen. | Lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles. |
Where the eye mixes ques and qui
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between ques and qui
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ques is \kveːs\ while qui is \ki\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ques is recorded at frequency rank #37,992, classified as averb, pronounced \kveːs\. qui is at rank #22, tagged as apron, pronounced \ki\.
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 38014, this pair ranks #258,317 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ques vs qui
Shared letters: qu. Private to "ques": es. Private to "qui": i.
"ques" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "qui" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- ques ← qeus · qques · quess · quse · uqes
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ques" for "qui" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "ques" or "qui" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "ques" and "qui" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ques" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "qui" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #258,317 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ques" and "qui" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ques vs quot". 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 #258,317 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.