précédésvsprécocesConfusable pair

Quick tell: précédés is a verb, précoces is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“précédés” is a verb and “précoces” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,414
“précédés” frequency rank
#21,737
“précoces” frequency rank
55151
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature précédés précoces
Definition Participe passé masculin pluriel de précéder. Pluriel de précoce.

Where the eye mixes précédés and précoces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

8 ch
précédés
8 ch
précoces

Visual trap between précédés and précoces

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: précédés is \pʁe.se.de\ while précoces is \pʁe.kɔs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55151, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

précédés is recorded at frequency rank #33,414, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁe.se.de\. précoces is at rank #21,737, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.kɔs\.

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 55151, this pair ranks #129,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of précédés vs précoces

Shared letters: cprsé. Private to "précédés": d. Private to "précoces": eo.

"précédés" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "précoces" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "précédés" and "précoces" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "précédés" is a verb and "précoces" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "précédés" or "précoces"?
"précoces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #21,737 in our French list, against #33,414 for "précédés". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "précédés" and "précoces" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "précédés" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "précoces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #129,354 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "précédés" and "précoces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "précédées vs précédés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #129,354 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