prochevspromueConfusable pair

Which to use

“proche” and “promue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#810
“proche” frequency rank
#31,194
“promue” frequency rank
32004
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature proche promue
Definition Qui est voisin, qui est près de quelqu’un, de quelque chose. Féminin singulier de promu.

Where the eye mixes proche and promue

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. proche (CCVCCV) and promue (CCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

6 ch
proche
6 ch
promue

Visual trap between proche and promue

A purely visual mix-up. proche (\pʁɔʃ\) and promue (\pʁɔ.my\) 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 32004, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

proche is recorded at frequency rank #810, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔʃ\. promue is at rank #31,194, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.my\.

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 32004, this pair ranks #300,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of proche vs promue

Shared letters: eopr. Private to "proche": ch. Private to "promue": mu.

"proche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV  ·  "promue" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prochepproche · prcohe · procche · proceh · prochhe · prohce · prroche · rpoche
  • promuepormue · ppromue · prmoue · promeu · prommue · proume · prromue · rpomue

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "proche" and "promue" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔʃ\ versus \pʁɔ.my\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "proche" vs "promue" - which ranks higher?
"proche" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #810 in our French list, against #31,194 for "promue". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "proche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "promue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #300,190 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "proche" and "promue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "promue vs proud". 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 #300,190 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