Which to use
“pères” and “perf” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,596
- “pères” frequency rank
- #24,321
- “perf” frequency rank
- 29917
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pères | perf |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de père. | Performance. |
Where the eye mixes pères and perf
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pères runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against perf's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pères with perf
A purely visual mix-up. pères (\pɛʁ\) and perf (\pɛʁf\) 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 29917, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pères is recorded at frequency rank #5,596, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ\. perf is at rank #24,321, 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 29917, this pair ranks #313,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pères vs perf
Shared letters: epr. Private to "pères": sè. Private to "perf": f.
"pères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "perf" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- perf ← eprf · pefr · perff · perrf · pperf · pref
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pères" and "perf" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pères" vs "perf" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pères" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "perf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #313,678 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pères" and "perf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs perf". 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 #313,678 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.