prêtrevsprêtsWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: prêtre is a noun, prêts is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“prêtre” is a noun and “prêts” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,215
“prêtre” frequency rank
#1,972
“prêts” frequency rank
5187
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prêtre prêts
Definition Celui qui exerce une fonction sacrée et qui préside aux cérémonies d’un culte religieux. Masculin pluriel de prêt.

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
prêtre
5 ch
prêts

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prêtre is \pʁɛtʁ\ while prêts is \pʁɛ\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5187, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prêtre is recorded at frequency rank #3,215, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɛtʁ\. prêts is at rank #1,972, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɛ\.

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 5187, this pair ranks #429,687 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of prêtre vs prêts

Shared letters: prtê. Private to "prêtre": e. Private to "prêts": s.

"prêtre" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "prêts" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC

Frequency comparison

prêtre#3,215
prêts#1,972

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prêtre" and "prêts" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prêtre" is a noun and "prêts" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prêtre" or "prêts"?
"prêts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,972 in our French list, against #3,215 for "prêtre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prêtre vs prêts

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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