périlvspétrinWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#7,489
“péril” frequency rank
#34,706
“pétrin” frequency rank
42195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature péril pétrin
Definition Danger, risque, état où il y a quelque chose de fâcheux à craindre. Coffre ou machine dans lesquels on pétrit le pain.

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
péril
6 ch
pétrin

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. péril (\pe.ʁil\) and pétrin (\pe.tʁɛ̃\) 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 42195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

péril is recorded at frequency rank #7,489, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁil\. pétrin is at rank #34,706, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.tʁɛ̃\.

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 42195, this pair ranks #227,480 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of péril vs pétrin

Shared letters: ipré. Private to "péril": l. Private to "pétrin": nt.

"péril" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pétrin" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Frequency comparison

péril#7,489
pétrin#34,706

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "péril" and "pétrin" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pe.ʁil\ versus \pe.tʁɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "péril" or "pétrin"?
"péril" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,489 in our French list, against #34,706 for "pétrin". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering péril vs pétrin

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 “péril” 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