Which to use
“perde” and “perdre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,654
- “perde” frequency rank
- #794
- “perdre” frequency rank
- 14448
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perde | perdre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de perdre. | Être privé de quelque chose qu’on avait, qu’on possédait. |
Where the eye mixes perde and perdre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. perde runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against perdre's 6 (CVCCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: perde vs perdre
A purely visual mix-up. perde (\pɛʁd\) and perdre (\pɛʁdʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perde is recorded at frequency rank #13,654, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁd\. perdre is at rank #794, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛʁdʁ\.
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 14448, this pair ranks #396,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of perde vs perdre
Shared letters: depr. Private to "perde": -. Private to "perdre": -.
"perde" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "perdre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "perde" for "perdre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "perde" or "perdre"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "perde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "perdre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #396,605 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perde" and "perdre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perde vs prude". 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 #396,605 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.