Which to use
“proche” and “propre” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #810
- “proche” frequency rank
- #513
- “propre” frequency rank
- 1323
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | proche | propre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qui est voisin, qui est près de quelqu’un, de quelque chose. | Qui est particulier à une personne ou à une chose (exclusivement ou non). |
Where the eye mixes proche and propre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses proche with propre
A purely visual mix-up. proche (\pʁɔʃ\) and propre (\pʁɔpʁ\) 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 1323, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
proche is recorded at frequency rank #810, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔʃ\. propre is at rank #513, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔpʁ\.
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 1323, this pair ranks #438,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of proche vs propre
Shared letters: eopr. Private to "proche": ch. Private to "propre": -.
"proche" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV · "propre" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "proche" for "propre" ever safe?
Which is more common, "proche" or "propre"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "proche" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "propre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #438,260 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "proche" and "propre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proféré vs propre". 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 #438,260 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.