percevsperfsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#18,016
“perce” frequency rank
#46,951
“perfs” frequency rank
64967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perce perfs
Definition Outil pour percer. Pluriel de perf.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
perce
5 ch
perfs

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perce (\pɛʁs\) and perfs (\pɛʁf\) 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 64967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perce is recorded at frequency rank #18,016, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁs\. perfs is at rank #46,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁf\.

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 64967, this pair ranks #74,500 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of perce vs perfs

Shared letters: epr. Private to "perce": c. Private to "perfs": fs.

"perce" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "perfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perceeprce · pecre · percce · perec · perrce · pperce · prece
  • perfseprfs · pefrs · perffs · perfss · perrfs · persf · pperfs · prefs

Frequency comparison

perce#18,016
perfs#46,951

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perce" and "perfs" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁs\ versus \pɛʁf\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perce" or "perfs"?
"perce" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,016 in our French list, against #46,951 for "perfs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering perce vs perfs

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 “perce” 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