préciser vs précisez, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#3,419
“préciser” frequency rank: #40,937
“précisez” frequency rank: 44356
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	préciser	précisez
Definition	Fixer, déterminer davantage, voire exactement.	Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de préciser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set préciser and précisez apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

préciser

8 ch

précisez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. préciser and précisez are pronounced identically (\pʁe.si.ze\) and both work as averb. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by a single letter - r in “préciser” becomes z in “précisez”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44356, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

préciser is recorded at frequency rank #3,419, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁe.si.ze\. précisez is at rank #40,937, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁe.si.ze\.

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 44356, this pair ranks #211,039 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of préciser vs précisez

Shared letters: ceiprsé. Private to "préciser": -. Private to "précisez": z.

"préciser" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC · "précisez" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Frequency comparison

préciser#3,419

précisez#40,937

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "préciser" and "précisez" be used interchangeably?

No. They are pronounced the same (\pʁe.si.ze\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.

Which is more common, "préciser" or "précisez"?

"préciser" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,419 in our French list, against #40,937 for "précisez". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering préciser vs précisez

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 “préciser” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable