persuadevspersuaderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,179
“persuade” frequency rank
#15,715
“persuader” frequency rank
46894
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature persuade persuader
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de persuader. Amener quelqu’un à croire ou à vouloir quelque chose.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set persuade and persuader apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
persuade
9 ch
persuader

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. persuade (\pɛʁ.sɥad\) and persuader (\pɛʁ.sɥa.de\) 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 extra letter(s) - “persuade” sits inside “persuader”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46894, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

persuade is recorded at frequency rank #31,179, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.sɥad\. persuader is at rank #15,715, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.sɥa.de\.

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 46894, this pair ranks #191,207 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of persuade vs persuader

Shared letters: adeprsu. Private to "persuade": -. Private to "persuader": -.

"persuade" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "persuader" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • persuadeeprsuade · perrsuade · persaude · perssuade · persuadde · persuaed · persudae · perusade
  • persuadereprsuader · perrsuader · persauder · perssuader · persuadder · persuaderr · persuadre · persuaedr

Frequency comparison

persuade#31,179
persuader#15,715

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "persuade" and "persuader" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁ.sɥad\ versus \pɛʁ.sɥa.de\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "persuade" or "persuader"?
"persuader" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,715 in our French list, against #31,179 for "persuade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering persuade vs persuader

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 “persuade” 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