pègrevspigeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,988
“pègre” frequency rank
#15,717
“pige” frequency rank
57705
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pègre pige
Definition Catégorie des gens sans aveu qui vivent de friponnerie ou d’escroquerie. Longueur arbitraire, prise comme référence, petite branche transformée en instrument de mesure que le jardinier utilise pour planter de façon régulière.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
pègre
4 ch
pige

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pègre (\pɛɡʁ\) and pige (\piʒ\) 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 57705, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pègre is recorded at frequency rank #41,988, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛɡʁ\. pige is at rank #15,717, tagged as anoun, pronounced \piʒ\.

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 57705, this pair ranks #113,435 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pègre vs pige

Shared letters: egp. Private to "pègre": . Private to "pige": i.

"pègre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pige" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pigeipge · pgie · pieg · pigge · ppige

Frequency comparison

pègre#41,988
pige#15,717

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pègre" and "pige" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛɡʁ\ versus \piʒ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pègre" or "pige"?
"pige" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,717 in our French list, against #41,988 for "pègre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pègre vs pige

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 “pègre” 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