persesvspressésWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#20,814
“perses” frequency rank
#15,969
“pressés” frequency rank
36783
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perses pressés
Definition Pluriel de perse. Masculin pluriel de pressé.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set perses and pressés apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
perses
7 ch
pressés

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perses (\pɛʁs\) and pressés (\pʁɛ.se\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36783, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perses is recorded at frequency rank #20,814, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁs\. pressés is at rank #15,969, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɛ.se\.

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 36783, this pair ranks #267,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perses vs pressés

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "perses": -. Private to "pressés": é.

"perses" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pressés" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perseseprses · peress · perrses · persess · persses · pesres · pperses · preses

Frequency comparison

perses#20,814
pressés#15,969

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perses" and "pressés" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁs\ versus \pʁɛ.se\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perses" or "pressés"?
"pressés" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,969 in our French list, against #20,814 for "perses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering perses vs pressés

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 “perses” 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