présentsvspressentWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: présents is a adjective, pressent is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“présents” is an adjective and “pressent” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,381
“présents” frequency rank
#24,333
“pressent” frequency rank
26714
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature présents pressent
Definition Masculin pluriel de présent. Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de presser.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set présents and pressent apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
présents
8 ch
pressent

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: présents is \pʁe.zɑ̃\ while pressent is \pʁɛs\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 5 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26714, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

présents is recorded at frequency rank #2,381, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.zɑ̃\. pressent is at rank #24,333, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɛs\.

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 26714, this pair ranks #333,274 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of présents vs pressent

Shared letters: enprst. Private to "présents": é. Private to "pressent": -.

"présents" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCC  ·  "pressent" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pressentperssent · ppressent · presesnt · pressennt · pressentt · pressetn · pressnet · prressent

Frequency comparison

présents#2,381
pressent#24,333

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "présents" and "pressent" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "présents" is an adjective and "pressent" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "présents" or "pressent"?
"présents" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,381 in our French list, against #24,333 for "pressent". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering présents vs pressent

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “présents”; for a verb, it's “pressent”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “présents” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list