Which to use
“perdu” is an adjective and “perfs” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #634
- “perdu” frequency rank
- #46,951
- “perfs” frequency rank
- 47585
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perdu | perfs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dont on n’a plus la possession, la jouissance. | Pluriel de perf. |
Where the eye mixes perdu and perfs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses perdu with perfs
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perdu is \pɛʁ.dy\ while perfs is \pɛʁf\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47585, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perdu is recorded at frequency rank #634, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ.dy\. perfs is at rank #46,951, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁf\.
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 47585, this pair ranks #185,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of perdu vs perfs
Shared letters: epr. Private to "perdu": du. Private to "perfs": fs.
"perdu" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "perfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "perdu" and "perfs" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "perdu" vs "perfs" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "perdu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "perfs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #185,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perdu" and "perfs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perfs vs pètes". 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 #185,783 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.