Which to use
“paraissent” and “périssent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,360
- “paraissent” frequency rank
- #43,622
- “périssent” frequency rank
- 52982
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paraissent | périssent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de paraître (ou paraitre). | Troisième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent de périr. |
Where the eye mixes paraissent and périssent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. paraissent runs 10 letters (CVCVVCCVCC) against périssent's 9 (CVCVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses paraissent with périssent
A purely visual mix-up. paraissent (\pa.ʁɛs\) and périssent (\pe.ʁis\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paraissent is recorded at frequency rank #9,360, classified as averb, pronounced \pa.ʁɛs\. périssent is at rank #43,622, tagged as averb, pronounced \pe.ʁis\.
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 52982, this pair ranks #143,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paraissent vs périssent
Shared letters: einprst. Private to "paraissent": a. Private to "périssent": é.
"paraissent" · 10 letters · shape CVCVVCCVCC · "périssent" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- paraissent ← apraissent · paarissent · paraisent · paraisesnt · paraissennt · paraissentt · paraissetn · paraissnet
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "paraissent" and "périssent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "paraissent" vs "périssent" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "paraissent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "périssent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #143,917 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paraissent" and "périssent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "périrent vs périssent". 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 #143,917 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.