Which to use
“préposition” and “proposition” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,491
- “préposition” frequency rank
- #1,887
- “proposition” frequency rank
- 40378
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | préposition | proposition |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Adposition antéposée. Mot-outil qui se place immédiatement devant un syntagme et qui indique la relation syntaxique ou sémantique de ce syntagme dans la phrase. | Action de proposer, de soumettre à un examen, à une délibération. |
Where the eye mixes préposition and proposition
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 10 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: préposition vs proposition
A purely visual mix-up. préposition (\pʁe.pɔ.zi.sjɔ̃\) and proposition (\pʁɔ.pɔ.zi.sjɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - é in “préposition” becomes o in “proposition”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40378, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
préposition is recorded at frequency rank #38,491, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.pɔ.zi.sjɔ̃\. proposition is at rank #1,887, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.pɔ.zi.sjɔ̃\.
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 40378, this pair ranks #240,972 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of préposition vs proposition
Shared letters: inoprst. Private to "préposition": é. Private to "proposition": -.
"préposition" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC · "proposition" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCVCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- proposition ← porposition · pproposition · proopsition · propoistion · proposiiton · propositino · propositionn · propositoin
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "préposition" and "proposition" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "préposition" vs "proposition" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "préposition" and "proposition" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "préposition" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proposition" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,972 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "préposition" and "proposition" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "préposition vs propositions". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #240,972 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.