Which to use
“prévalu” is a verb and “prévu” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #33,850
- “prévalu” frequency rank
- #1,401
- “prévu” frequency rank
- 35251
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prévalu | prévu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Participe passé masculin singulier de prévaloir. | Qui a été prévu, à quoi l’on s’attend. |
Where the eye mixes prévalu and prévu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. prévalu runs 7 letters (CCVCVCV) against prévu's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between prévalu and prévu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prévalu is \pʁe.va.ly\ while prévu is \pʁe.vy\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35251, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prévalu is recorded at frequency rank #33,850, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁe.va.ly\. prévu is at rank #1,401, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.vy\.
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 35251, this pair ranks #278,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prévalu vs prévu
Shared letters: pruvé. Private to "prévalu": al. Private to "prévu": -.
"prévalu" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV · "prévu" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prévalu" for "prévu" ever safe?
Frequency check: "prévalu" vs "prévu" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prévalu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prévu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #278,079 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prévalu" and "prévu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "préau vs prévalu". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #278,079 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.