Which to use
“périmés” is an adjective and “primer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #41,990
- “périmés” frequency rank
- #31,191
- “primer” frequency rank
- 73181
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | périmés | primer |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Masculin pluriel de périmé. | Devancer, dominer, l’emporter sur quelqu’un ou sur quelque chose, y imposer sa domination. Note d’usage : À l’origine sans préposition, en ce sens il est d’ordinaire suivi désormais de sur. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set périmés and primer apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: périmés is \pe.ʁi.me\ while primer is \pʁi.me\. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 73181, 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\. primer is at rank #31,191, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁi.me\.
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 73181, this pair ranks #41,345 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of périmés vs primer
Shared letters: impr. Private to "périmés": sé. Private to "primer": e.
"périmés" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC · "primer" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- primer ← pirmer · pprimer · priemr · primerr · primmer · primre · prmier · prrimer
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "périmés" and "primer" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "périmés" or "primer"?
Remembering périmés vs primer
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “périmés”; for a verb, it's “primer”.
- 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