périls vs périt, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“périls” is a noun and “périt” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#24,002
“périls” frequency rank: #40,446
“périt” frequency rank: 64448
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	périls	périt
Definition	Pluriel de péril.	Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de périr.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch

périls

5 ch

périt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: périls is \pe.ʁil\ while périt is \pe.ʁi\. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64448, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

périls is recorded at frequency rank #24,002, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.ʁil\. périt is at rank #40,446, tagged as averb, pronounced \pe.ʁi\.

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 64448, this pair ranks #77,054 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of périls vs périt

Shared letters: ipré. Private to "périls": ls. Private to "périt": t.

"périls" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCC · "périt" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Frequency comparison

périls#24,002

périt#40,446

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "périls" and "périt" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "périls" is a noun and "périt" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "périls" or "périt"?

"périls" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,002 in our French list, against #40,446 for "périt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering périls vs périt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “périls”; for a verb, it's “périt”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “périls” entry
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