Which to use
“perfs” and “peurs” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #46,951
- “perfs” frequency rank
- #12,639
- “peurs” frequency rank
- 59590
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perfs | peurs |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pluriel de perf. | Pluriel de peur. |
Where the eye mixes perfs and peurs
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. perfs (CVCCC) and peurs (CVVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses perfs with peurs
A purely visual mix-up. perfs (\pɛʁf\) and peurs (\pœʁ\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 59590, 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\. peurs is at rank #12,639, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pœʁ\.
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 59590, this pair ranks #102,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of perfs vs peurs
Shared letters: eprs. Private to "perfs": f. Private to "peurs": u.
"perfs" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC · "peurs" · 5 letters · shape CVVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "perfs" and "peurs" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary French text, does "perfs" or "peurs" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "perfs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peurs" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #102,304 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perfs" and "peurs" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perfs vs pètes". 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 #102,304 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.