Which to use
“pers” is an adjective and “peu” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,512
- “pers” frequency rank
- #95
- “peu” frequency rank
- 17607
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pers | peu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est entre le bleu et le vert (surtout en parlant des yeux). | Presque pas ; pas beaucoup. |
Where the eye mixes pers and peu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pers vs peu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pers is \pɛʁ\ while peu is \pø\. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17607, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pers is recorded at frequency rank #17,512, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ\. peu is at rank #95, tagged as anadv, pronounced \pø\.
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 17607, this pair ranks #382,353 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pers vs peu
Shared letters: ep. Private to "pers": rs. Private to "peu": u.
"pers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "peu" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pers ← eprs · perrs · pesr · ppers
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pers" for "peu" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pers" vs "peu" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "peu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #382,353 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pers" and "peu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peep vs pers". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #382,353 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.