périmésvspetitesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,990
“périmés” frequency rank
#948
“petites” frequency rank
42938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature périmés petites
Definition Masculin pluriel de périmé. Féminin pluriel de petit.

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch
périmés
7 ch
petites

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. périmés (\pe.ʁi.me\) and petites (\pə.tit\) 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 4 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42938, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

périmés is recorded at frequency rank #41,990, classified as anadj, pronounced \pe.ʁi.me\. petites is at rank #948, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pə.tit\.

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 42938, this pair ranks #221,790 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of périmés vs petites

Shared letters: ips. Private to "périmés": mré. Private to "petites": et.

"périmés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "petites" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • petiteseptites · peittes · petiets · petitess · petitse · petittes · petties · pettites

Frequency comparison

périmés#41,990
petites#948

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "périmés" and "petites" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pe.ʁi.me\ versus \pə.tit\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "périmés" or "petites"?
"petites" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #948 in our French list, against #41,990 for "périmés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering périmés vs petites

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 “périmés” 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