perdrevsperdurerWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“perdre” and “perdurer” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#794
“perdre” frequency rank
#26,127
“perdurer” frequency rank
26921
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perdre perdurer
Definition Être privé de quelque chose qu’on avait, qu’on possédait. Durer un certain temps.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perdre and perdurer apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
perdre
8 ch
perdurer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perdre (\pɛʁdʁ\) and perdurer (\pɛʁ.dy.ʁe\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26921, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perdre is recorded at frequency rank #794, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁdʁ\. perdurer is at rank #26,127, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.dy.ʁe\.

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 26921, this pair ranks #332,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perdre vs perdurer

Shared letters: depr. Private to "perdre": -. Private to "perdurer": u.

"perdre" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV  ·  "perdurer" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perdreeprdre · pedrre · perddre · perder · perdrre · perrde · perrdre · pperdre
  • perdurereprdurer · pedrurer · perddurer · perdruer · perduerr · perdurerr · perdurre · perdurrer

Frequency comparison

perdre#794
perdurer#26,127

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perdre" and "perdurer" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁdʁ\ versus \pɛʁ.dy.ʁe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perdre" or "perdurer"?
"perdre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #794 in our French list, against #26,127 for "perdurer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering perdre vs perdurer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “perdre” 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