perfsvspérilsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#46,951
“perfs” frequency rank
#24,002
“périls” frequency rank
70953
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perfs périls
Definition Pluriel de perf. Pluriel de péril.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perfs and périls apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
perfs
6 ch
périls

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perfs (\pɛʁf\) and périls (\pe.ʁil\) 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 70953, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perfs is recorded at frequency rank #46,951, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁf\. périls is at rank #24,002, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁil\.

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 70953, this pair ranks #49,365 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of perfs vs périls

Shared letters: prs. Private to "perfs": ef. Private to "périls": ilé.

"perfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "périls" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perfseprfs · pefrs · perffs · perfss · perrfs · persf · pperfs · prefs

Frequency comparison

perfs#46,951
périls#24,002

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perfs" and "périls" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁf\ versus \pe.ʁil\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perfs" or "périls"?
"périls" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,002 in our French list, against #46,951 for "perfs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering perfs vs périls

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 “perfs” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list