profilsvsprovinsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,291
“profils” frequency rank
#32,965
“provins” frequency rank
41256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature profils provins
Definition Pluriel de profil. Pluriel de provin.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set profils and provins apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
profils
7 ch
provins

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. profils (\pʁɔ.fil\) and provins (\pʁɔ.vɛ̃\) 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 41256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

profils is recorded at frequency rank #8,291, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.fil\. provins is at rank #32,965, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.vɛ̃\.

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 41256, this pair ranks #234,419 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of profils vs provins

Shared letters: ioprs. Private to "profils": fl. Private to "provins": nv.

"profils" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "provins" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • profilsporfils · pprofils · prfoils · proffils · profills · profilss · profisl · proflis
  • provinsporvins · pprovins · proivns · provinns · provinss · provisn · provnis · provvins

Frequency comparison

profils#8,291
provins#32,965

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "profils" and "provins" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔ.fil\ versus \pʁɔ.vɛ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "profils" or "provins"?
"profils" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,291 in our French list, against #32,965 for "provins". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering profils vs provins

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “profils” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list