Which to use
“présence” and “présente” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #745
- “présence” frequency rank
- #620
- “présente” frequency rank
- 1365
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | présence | présente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Existence d’une personne dans un lieu donné. | Lettre que l’on envoie. |
Where the eye mixes présence and présente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses présence with présente
A purely visual mix-up. présence (\pʁe.zɑ̃s\) and présente (\pʁe.zɑ̃t\) 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 - c in “présence” becomes t in “présente”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1365, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
présence is recorded at frequency rank #745, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.zɑ̃s\. présente is at rank #620, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.zɑ̃t\.
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 1365, this pair ranks #438,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of présence vs présente
Shared letters: enprsé. Private to "présence": c. Private to "présente": t.
"présence" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "présente" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "présence" for "présente" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "présence" or "présente" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "présence" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "présente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,192 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "présence" and "présente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "précepte vs présente". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #438,192 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.