parésvspersesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,589
“parés” frequency rank
#20,814
“perses” frequency rank
64403
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parés perses
Definition Masculin pluriel de paré. Pluriel de perse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parés and perses apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
parés
6 ch
perses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. parés (\pa.ʁe\) and perses (\pɛʁs\) 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 64403, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parés is recorded at frequency rank #43,589, classified as anadj, pronounced \pa.ʁe\. perses is at rank #20,814, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁs\.

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 64403, this pair ranks #77,246 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of parés vs perses

Shared letters: prs. Private to "parés": . Private to "perses": e.

"parés" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "perses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perseseprses · peress · perrses · persess · persses · pesres · pperses · preses

Frequency comparison

parés#43,589
perses#20,814

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parés" and "perses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pa.ʁe\ versus \pɛʁs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "parés" or "perses"?
"perses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,814 in our French list, against #43,589 for "parés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parés vs perses

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 “parés” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list