Which to use
“perd” and “puer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,928
- “perd” frequency rank
- #37,014
- “puer” frequency rank
- 38942
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perd | puer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de perdre. | Sentir mauvais. |
Where the eye mixes perd and puer
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. perd (CVCC) and puer (CVVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between perd and puer
A purely visual mix-up. perd (\pɛʁ\) and puer (\pɥe\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38942, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perd is recorded at frequency rank #1,928, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ\. puer is at rank #37,014, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɥe\.
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 38942, this pair ranks #251,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of perd vs puer
Shared letters: epr. Private to "perd": d. Private to "puer": u.
"perd" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "puer" · 4 letters · shape CVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "perd" for "puer" ever safe?
Frequency check: "perd" vs "puer" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "perd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "puer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #251,700 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perd" and "puer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prep vs puer". 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 #251,700 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.