perçu vs peu, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#7,609
“perçu” frequency rank: #95
“peu” frequency rank: 7704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	perçu	peu
Definition	Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe percevoir.	Presque pas ; pas beaucoup.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

perçu

3 ch

peu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perçu is \pɛʁ.sy\ while peu is \pø\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7704, 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\. peu is at rank #95, tagged as anadv, pronounced \pø\.

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 7704, this pair ranks #422,387 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of perçu vs peu

Shared letters: epu. Private to "perçu": rç. Private to "peu": -.

"perçu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "peu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequency comparison

perçu#7,609

peu#95

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perçu" and "peu" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "perçu" is a verb and "peu" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "perçu" or "peu"?

"peu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #95 in our French list, against #7,609 for "perçu". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering perçu vs peu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “perçu”; for an adverb, it's “peu”.
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