peinsvspriésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,098
“peins” frequency rank
#27,197
“priés” frequency rank
75295
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peins priés
Definition Première personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de peindre. Participe passé masculin pluriel de prier.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
peins
5 ch
priés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. peins (\pɛ̃\) and priés (\pʁi.je\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 75295, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peins is recorded at frequency rank #48,098, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛ̃\. priés is at rank #27,197, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁi.je\.

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 75295, this pair ranks #34,525 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of peins vs priés

Shared letters: ips. Private to "peins": en. Private to "priés": .

"peins" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC  ·  "priés" · 5 letters · shape CCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peinsepins · peinns · peinss · peisn · piens · ppeins

Frequency comparison

peins#48,098
priés#27,197

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peins" and "priés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛ̃\ versus \pʁi.je\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "peins" or "priés"?
"priés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,197 in our French list, against #48,098 for "peins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering peins vs priés

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 “peins” 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