péchervspenchésWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pécher is a verb, penchés is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pécher” is a verb and “penchés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#37,988
“pécher” frequency rank
#36,095
“penchés” frequency rank
74083
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pécher penchés
Definition Transgresser la loi divine ou religieuse. Masculin pluriel de penché.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pécher
7 ch
penchés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pécher is \pe.ʃe\ while penchés is \pɑ̃.ʃe\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 74083, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pécher is recorded at frequency rank #37,988, classified as averb, pronounced \pe.ʃe\. penchés is at rank #36,095, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɑ̃.ʃe\.

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 74083, this pair ranks #38,319 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pécher vs penchés

Shared letters: cehpé. Private to "pécher": r. Private to "penchés": ns.

"pécher" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "penchés" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC

Frequency comparison

pécher#37,988
penchés#36,095

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pécher" and "penchés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pécher" is a verb and "penchés" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pécher" or "penchés"?
"penchés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,095 in our French list, against #37,988 for "pécher". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pécher vs penchés

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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