Which to use
“percent” and “pourcent” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,521
- “percent” frequency rank
- #40,429
- “pourcent” frequency rank
- 72950
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | percent | pourcent |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Fête de tradition qui se déroule cent jours avant la libération du contingent. | Partie sur cent. Le symbole est ‹ % ›. |
Where the eye mixes percent and pourcent
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. percent runs 7 letters (CVCCVCC) against pourcent's 8 (CVVCCVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: percent vs pourcent
A purely visual mix-up. percent (\pɛʁ.sɑ̃\) and pourcent (\puʁ.sɑ̃\) 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 72950, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
percent is recorded at frequency rank #32,521, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.sɑ̃\. pourcent is at rank #40,429, tagged as anoun, pronounced \puʁ.sɑ̃\.
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 72950, this pair ranks #42,243 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of percent vs pourcent
Shared letters: cenprt. Private to "percent": -. Private to "pourcent": ou.
"percent" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "pourcent" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "percent" and "pourcent" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "percent" or "pourcent"?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "percent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pourcent" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,243 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "percent" and "pourcent" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "percent vs persans". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #42,243 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.