pâlir vs par, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“pâlir” is a verb and “par” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#39,955
“pâlir” frequency rank: #28
“par” frequency rank: 39983
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	pâlir	par
Definition	Devenir pâle.	Sert à marquer le mouvement et le passage.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pâlir and par apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

pâlir

3 ch

par

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pâlir is \pɑ.liʁ\ while par is \paʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39983, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pâlir is recorded at frequency rank #39,955, classified as averb, pronounced \pɑ.liʁ\. par is at rank #28, tagged as aprep, pronounced \paʁ\.

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 39983, this pair ranks #243,885 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pâlir vs par

Shared letters: pr. Private to "pâlir": ilâ. Private to "par": a.

"pâlir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "par" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

pâlir#39,955

par#28

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pâlir" and "par" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pâlir" is a verb and "par" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "pâlir" or "par"?

"par" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28 in our French list, against #39,955 for "pâlir". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pâlir vs par

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pâlir”; for a preposition, it's “par”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pâlir” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable