pressionsvsprofessionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,988
“pressions” frequency rank
#7,484
“professions” frequency rank
14472
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pressions professions
Definition Pluriel de pression. Pluriel de profession.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pressions and professions apart are highlighted. They share 9 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
pressions
11 ch
professions

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pressions (\pʁɛ.sjɔ̃\) and professions (\pʁɔ.fɛ.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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14472, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pressions is recorded at frequency rank #6,988, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛ.sjɔ̃\. professions is at rank #7,484, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.fɛ.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 14472, this pair ranks #396,491 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pressions vs professions

Shared letters: einoprs. Private to "pressions": -. Private to "professions": f.

"pressions" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVVCC  ·  "professions" · 11 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pressionsperssions · ppressions · presions · presisons · pressinos · pressionns · pressionss · pressiosn
  • professionsporfessions · pprofessions · prfoessions · proefssions · profesions · profesisons · professinos · professionns

Frequency comparison

pressions#6,988
professions#7,484

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pressions" and "professions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɛ.sjɔ̃\ versus \pʁɔ.fɛ.sjɔ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pressions" or "professions"?
"pressions" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,988 in our French list, against #7,484 for "professions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pressions vs professions

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 “pressions” 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