paraissevsparesseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: paraisse is a verb, paresse is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“paraisse” is a verb and “paresse” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#25,760
“paraisse” frequency rank
#19,622
“paresse” frequency rank
45382
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paraisse paresse
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de paraître (ou paraitre). Tendance à éviter toute activité, à refuser tout effort consenti par les autres lambdas, disposition habituelle à ne pas travailler, nonchalance, négligence des choses qui sont de devoir, d’obligation.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set paraisse and paresse apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
paraisse
7 ch
paresse

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Say them out loud and nothing separates them: paraisse and paresse carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pa.ʁɛs\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is averb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45382, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paraisse is recorded at frequency rank #25,760, classified as averb, pronounced \pa.ʁɛs\. paresse is at rank #19,622, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.ʁɛs\.

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 45382, this pair ranks #203,121 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paraisse vs paresse

Shared letters: aeprs. Private to "paraisse": i. Private to "paresse": -.

"paraisse" · 8 letters · shape CVCVVCCV  ·  "paresse" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paraisseapraisse · paarisse · paraise · paraises · parasise · pariasse · parraisse · pparaisse
  • paresseapresse · paersse · parese · pareses · parresse · parsese · pparesse · praesse

Frequency comparison

paraisse#25,760
paresse#19,622

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "paraisse" and "paresse" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "paraisse" is a verb and "paresse" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "paraisse" or "paresse"?
"paresse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,622 in our French list, against #25,760 for "paraisse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering paraisse vs paresse

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “paraisse”; for a noun, it's “paresse”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “paraisse” 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