percepteurvsprécepteurWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,710
“percepteur” frequency rank
#29,091
“précepteur” frequency rank
77801
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature percepteur précepteur
Definition Fonctionnaire qui est préposé au recouvrement des impôts. Celui qui est chargé de l’instruction et de l’éducation d’un enfant, d’un jeune homme.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set percepteur and précepteur apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
percepteur
10 ch
précepteur

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. percepteur (\pɛʁ.sɛp.tœʁ\) and précepteur (\pʁe.sɛp.tœʁ\) 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 77801, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

percepteur is recorded at frequency rank #48,710, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.sɛp.tœʁ\. précepteur is at rank #29,091, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.sɛp.tœʁ\.

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 77801, this pair ranks #27,421 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of percepteur vs précepteur

Shared letters: ceprtu. Private to "percepteur": -. Private to "précepteur": é.

"percepteur" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "précepteur" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • percepteureprcepteur · pecrepteur · perccepteur · percepetur · perceppteur · percepteru · percepteurr · perceptteur

Frequency comparison

percepteur#48,710
précepteur#29,091

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "percepteur" and "précepteur" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁ.sɛp.tœʁ\ versus \pʁe.sɛp.tœʁ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "percepteur" or "précepteur"?
"précepteur" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,091 in our French list, against #48,710 for "percepteur". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering percepteur vs précepteur

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 “percepteur” 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