Which to use
“percer” and “placer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #9,053
- “percer” frequency rank
- #3,351
- “placer” frequency rank
- 12404
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | percer | placer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Traverser en faisant un trou ou une ouverture ; perforer. | Situer ; mettre dans un lieu. |
Where the eye mixes percer and placer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. percer (CVCCVC) and placer (CCVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between percer and placer
A purely visual mix-up. percer (\pɛʁ.se\) and placer (\pla.se\) 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 12404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
percer is recorded at frequency rank #9,053, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.se\. placer is at rank #3,351, tagged as averb, pronounced \pla.se\.
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 12404, this pair ranks #405,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of percer vs placer
Shared letters: cepr. Private to "percer": -. Private to "placer": al.
"percer" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "placer" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "percer" and "placer" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "percer" vs "placer" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "percer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "placer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #405,399 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "percer" and "placer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peler vs percer". 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 #405,399 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.