prêtsvsprosWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#1,972
“prêts” frequency rank
#10,766
“pros” frequency rank
12738
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prêts pros
Definition Masculin pluriel de prêt. Pluriel de pro.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prêts and pros apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
prêts
4 ch
pros

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prêts is \pʁɛ\ while pros is \pʁo\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12738, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prêts is recorded at frequency rank #1,972, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɛ\. pros is at rank #10,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁo\.

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 12738, this pair ranks #403,969 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of prêts vs pros

Shared letters: prs. Private to "prêts": . Private to "pros": o.

"prêts" · 5 letters · shape CCVCC  ·  "pros" · 4 letters · shape CCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prospors · ppros · pross · prros · prso · rpos

Frequency comparison

prêts#1,972
pros#10,766

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "prêts" and "pros" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "prêts" is an adjective and "pros" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "prêts" or "pros"?
"prêts" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,972 in our French list, against #10,766 for "pros". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering prêts vs pros

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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