prêchesvsprochesWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prêches is a noun, proches is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#43,617
“prêches” frequency rank
#1,673
“proches” frequency rank
45290
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prêches proches
Definition Pluriel de prêche. Pluriel de proche.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prêches and proches apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
prêches
7 ch
proches

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prêches is \pʁɛʃ\ while proches is \pʁɔʃ\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - ê in “prêches” becomes o in “proches”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45290, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prêches is recorded at frequency rank #43,617, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛʃ\. proches is at rank #1,673, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔʃ\.

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 45290, this pair ranks #203,895 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prêches vs proches

Shared letters: cehprs. Private to "prêches": ê. Private to "proches": o.

"prêches" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "proches" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prochesporches · pproches · prcohes · procches · procehs · prochess · prochhes · prochse

Frequency comparison

prêches#43,617
proches#1,673

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prêches" and "proches" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prêches" is a noun and "proches" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prêches" or "proches"?
"proches" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,673 in our French list, against #43,617 for "prêches". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering prêches vs proches

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “prêches”; for an adjective, it's “proches”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “prêches” 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