persosvspertesConfusable pair

Quick tell: persos is a adjective, pertes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“persos” is an adjective and “pertes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18,557
“persos” frequency rank
#3,485
“pertes” frequency rank
22042
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature persos pertes
Definition Pluriel de perso. Pluriel de perte.

Where the eye mixes persos and pertes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
persos
6 ch
pertes

Why the eye confuses persos with pertes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: persos is \pɛʁ.so\ while pertes is \pɛʁt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22042, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

persos is recorded at frequency rank #18,557, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ.so\. pertes is at rank #3,485, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁt\.

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 22042, this pair ranks #360,090 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of persos vs pertes

Shared letters: eprs. Private to "persos": o. Private to "pertes": t.

"persos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "pertes" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • persoseprsos · peross · perrsos · persoss · perssos · pesros · ppersos · presos
  • perteseprtes · perets · perrtes · pertess · pertse · perttes · petres · ppertes

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "persos" for "pertes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "persos" is an adjective and "pertes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "persos" vs "pertes" - which ranks higher?
"pertes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,485 in our French list, against #18,557 for "persos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "persos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pertes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #360,090 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "persos" and "pertes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pernod vs persos". 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 #360,090 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list