Which to use
“pères” and “pure” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,596
- “pères” frequency rank
- #3,216
- “pure” frequency rank
- 8812
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pères | pure |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de père. | La boisson en elle-même, plutôt fortement alcoolisée qui n’est pas coupé avec une autre plus légère ou sans alcool. |
Where the eye mixes pères and pure
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pères runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against pure's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pères with pure
A purely visual mix-up. pères (\pɛʁ\) and pure (\pyʁ\) 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 8812, 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\. pure is at rank #3,216, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pyʁ\.
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 8812, this pair ranks #418,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pères vs pure
Shared letters: epr. Private to "pères": sè. Private to "pure": u.
"pères" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pure" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pure ← ppure · prue · purre · upre
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pères" for "pure" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pères" vs "pure" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
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 "pure" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #418,761 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pères" and "pure" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pères vs prep". 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 #418,761 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.