prenezvsprôneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prenez is a verb, prône is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prenez” is a verb and “prône” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,539
“prenez” frequency rank
#11,838
“prône” frequency rank
14377
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prenez prône
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel de l’indicatif présent du verbe prendre. Instruction chrétienne que le curé ou un vicaire fait tous les dimanches en chaire, à la messe paroissiale.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prenez and prône apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
prenez
5 ch
prône

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prenez is \pʁə.ne\ while prône is \pʁon\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14377, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prenez is recorded at frequency rank #2,539, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁə.ne\. prône is at rank #11,838, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁon\.

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 14377, this pair ranks #396,951 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of prenez vs prône

Shared letters: enpr. Private to "prenez": z. Private to "prône": ô.

"prenez" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "prône" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prenezpernez · pprenez · preenz · prenezz · prennez · prenze · prneez · prrenez

Frequency comparison

prenez#2,539
prône#11,838

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prenez" and "prône" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prenez" is a verb and "prône" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prenez" or "prône"?
"prenez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,539 in our French list, against #11,838 for "prône". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prenez vs prône

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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