perçuvspersWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: perçu is a verb, pers is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“perçu” is a verb and “pers” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,609
“perçu” frequency rank
#17,512
“pers” frequency rank
25121
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perçu pers
Definition Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe percevoir. Qui est entre le bleu et le vert (surtout en parlant des yeux).

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
perçu
4 ch
pers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perçu is \pɛʁ.sy\ while pers is \pɛʁ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25121, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perçu is recorded at frequency rank #7,609, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.sy\. pers is at rank #17,512, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ\.

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 25121, this pair ranks #342,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of perçu vs pers

Shared letters: epr. Private to "perçu": . Private to "pers": s.

"perçu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perseprs · perrs · pesr · ppers

Frequency comparison

perçu#7,609
pers#17,512

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perçu" and "pers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "perçu" is a verb and "pers" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "perçu" or "pers"?
"perçu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,609 in our French list, against #17,512 for "pers". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering perçu vs pers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “perçu”; for an adjective, it's “pers”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “perçu” 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