problèmesvsproclamésWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: problèmes is a noun, proclamés is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“problèmes” is a noun and “proclamés” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#676
“problèmes” frequency rank
#45,802
“proclamés” frequency rank
46478
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature problèmes proclamés
Definition Pluriel de problème. Participe passé masculin pluriel de proclamer.

Where the eye mixes problèmes and proclamés

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

9 ch
problèmes
9 ch
proclamés

Visual trap between problèmes and proclamés

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: problèmes is \pʁɔ.blɛm\ while proclamés is \pʁɔ.kla.me\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46478, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

problèmes is recorded at frequency rank #676, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.blɛm\. proclamés is at rank #45,802, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.kla.me\.

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 46478, this pair ranks #194,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of problèmes vs proclamés

Shared letters: lmoprs. Private to "problèmes": beè. Private to "proclamés": acé.

"problèmes" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC  ·  "proclamés" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "problèmes" and "proclamés" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "problèmes" is a noun and "proclamés" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "problèmes" vs "proclamés" - which ranks higher?
"problèmes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #676 in our French list, against #45,802 for "proclamés". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "problèmes" and "proclamés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "problèmes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proclamés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #194,618 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "problèmes" and "proclamés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proclament vs proclamés". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #194,618 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list