perfsvspersesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: perfs is a noun, perses is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“perfs” is a noun and “perses” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,951
“perfs” frequency rank
#20,814
“perses” frequency rank
67765
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perfs perses
Definition Pluriel de perf. Pluriel de perse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perfs and perses apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
perfs
6 ch
perses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perfs is \pɛʁf\ while perses is \pɛʁs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 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 67765, 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\. perses is at rank #20,814, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁs\.

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 67765, this pair ranks #62,007 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of perfs vs perses

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "perfs": f. Private to "perses": -.

"perfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC  ·  "perses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perfseprfs · pefrs · perffs · perfss · perrfs · persf · pperfs · prefs
  • perseseprses · peress · perrses · persess · persses · pesres · pperses · preses

Frequency comparison

perfs#46,951
perses#20,814

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perfs" and "perses" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "perfs" is a noun and "perses" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "perfs" or "perses"?
"perses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,814 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 perses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “perfs”; for an adjective, it's “perses”.
  • 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