persvspeuWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pers is a adjective, peu is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pers and peu apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pers
3 ch
peu

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

pers and peu form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. 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.

Frequency comparison

pers#17,512
peu#95

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pers" and "peu" be used interchangeably?
No, "pers" and "peu" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering pers vs peu

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pers”; for an adverb, it's “peu”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pers” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list