Which to use
“prévu” is an adjective and “prou” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,401
- “prévu” frequency rank
- #27,198
- “prou” frequency rank
- 28599
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prévu | prou |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui a été prévu, à quoi l’on s’attend. | Assez, beaucoup. |
Where the eye mixes prévu and prou
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. prévu runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against prou's 4 (CCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses prévu with prou
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prévu is \pʁe.vy\ while prou is \pʁu\. 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 adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28599, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prévu is recorded at frequency rank #1,401, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁe.vy\. prou is at rank #27,198, tagged as anadv, pronounced \pʁu\.
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 28599, this pair ranks #321,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prévu vs prou
Shared letters: pru. Private to "prévu": vé. Private to "prou": o.
"prévu" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV · "prou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prou ← pprou · prrou · pruo · rpou
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prévu" and "prou" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "prévu" vs "prou" - 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 "prévu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #321,800 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prévu" and "prou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prep vs prou". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #321,800 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.