Which to use
“progrès” is a noun and “progressé” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,442
- “progrès” frequency rank
- #13,448
- “progressé” frequency rank
- 15890
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | progrès | progressé |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mouvement en avant de la civilisation, en général ou dans un de ses domaines particuliers. | Participe passé masculin singulier de progresser. |
Where the eye mixes progrès and progressé
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. progrès runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against progressé's 9 (CCVCCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: progrès vs progressé
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: progrès is \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ\ while progressé is \pʁɔ.ɡʁe.se\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
progrès is recorded at frequency rank #2,442, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ\. progressé is at rank #13,448, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁe.se\.
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 15890, this pair ranks #390,385 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of progrès vs progressé
Shared letters: goprs. Private to "progrès": è. Private to "progressé": eé.
"progrès" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "progressé" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "progrès" and "progressé" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "progrès" vs "progressé" - which ranks higher?
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 "progrès" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "progressé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #390,385 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "progrès" and "progressé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "progrès vs prouvés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #390,385 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.