perpétrésvsperpétuerWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: perpétrés is a adjective, perpétuer is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“perpétrés” is an adjective and “perpétuer” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,303
“perpétrés” frequency rank
#20,813
“perpétuer” frequency rank
51116
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perpétrés perpétuer
Definition Masculin pluriel de perpétré. Rendre perpétuel ; faire durer sans cesse, constamment.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perpétrés and perpétuer apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
perpétrés
9 ch
perpétuer

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perpétrés is \pɛʁ.pe.tʁe\ while perpétuer is \pɛʁ.pe.tɥe\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perpétrés is recorded at frequency rank #30,303, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ.pe.tʁe\. perpétuer is at rank #20,813, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.pe.tɥe\.

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 51116, this pair ranks #157,458 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perpétrés vs perpétuer

Shared letters: eprté. Private to "perpétrés": s. Private to "perpétuer": u.

"perpétrés" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC  ·  "perpétuer" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC

Frequency comparison

perpétrés#30,303
perpétuer#20,813

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perpétrés" and "perpétuer" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "perpétrés" is an adjective and "perpétuer" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "perpétrés" or "perpétuer"?
"perpétuer" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,813 in our French list, against #30,303 for "perpétrés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering perpétrés vs perpétuer

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “perpétrés”; for a verb, it's “perpétuer”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “perpétrés” 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