Which to use
“pères” is a noun and “périmés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,596
- “pères” frequency rank
- #41,990
- “périmés” frequency rank
- 47586
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pères | périmés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de père. | Masculin pluriel de périmé. |
Where the eye mixes pères and périmés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pères runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against périmés's 7 (CVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pères with périmés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pères is \pɛʁ\ while périmés is \pe.ʁi.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47586, 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\. périmés is at rank #41,990, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pe.ʁi.me\.
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 47586, this pair ranks #185,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pères vs périmés
Shared letters: prs. Private to "pères": eè. Private to "périmés": imé.
"pères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "périmés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pères" for "périmés" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pères" or "périmés"?
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 "périmés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #185,772 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pères" and "périmés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "périmés vs primée". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #185,772 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.