précisantvsprécisonsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,642
“précisant” frequency rank
#29,093
“précisons” frequency rank
40735
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature précisant précisons
Definition Participe présent de préciser. Première personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de préciser.

Where the eye mixes précisant and précisons

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. précisant and précisons follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCVCC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

9 ch
précisant
9 ch
précisons

Look-alike desk: précisant vs précisons

A purely visual mix-up. précisant (\pʁe.si.zɑ̃\) and précisons (\pʁe.si.zɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40735, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

précisant is recorded at frequency rank #11,642, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁe.si.zɑ̃\. précisons is at rank #29,093, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁe.si.zɔ̃\.

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 40735, this pair ranks #238,284 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of précisant vs précisons

Shared letters: cinprsé. Private to "précisant": at. Private to "précisons": o.

"précisant" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC  ·  "précisons" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "précisant" and "précisons" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁe.si.zɑ̃\ versus \pʁe.si.zɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "précisant" vs "précisons" - which ranks higher?
"précisant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,642 in our French list, against #29,093 for "précisons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "précisant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "précisons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #238,284 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "précisant" and "précisons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "precision vs précisons". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #238,284 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