Which to use
“prévention” and “préventive” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,014
- “prévention” frequency rank
- #15,009
- “préventive” frequency rank
- 19023
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prévention | préventive |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de prévenir ; mesure à prendre pour prévenir certains risques. | Détention préventive d’un prévenu. |
Where the eye mixes prévention and préventive
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: prévention vs préventive
A purely visual mix-up. prévention (\pʁe.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\) and préventive (\pʁe.vɑ̃.tiv\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19023, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prévention is recorded at frequency rank #4,014, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.vɑ̃.sjɔ̃\. préventive is at rank #15,009, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.vɑ̃.tiv\.
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 19023, this pair ranks #375,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of prévention vs préventive
Shared letters: einprtvé. Private to "prévention": o. Private to "préventive": -.
"prévention" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVVC · "préventive" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prévention" for "préventive" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "prévention" or "préventive" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "prévention" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "préventive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #375,409 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prévention" and "préventive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "préventive vs préventives". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #375,409 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.