Which to use
“progrès” is a noun and “prouvés” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,442
- “progrès” frequency rank
- #46,969
- “prouvés” frequency rank
- 49411
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | progrès | prouvés |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mouvement en avant de la civilisation, en général ou dans un de ses domaines particuliers. | Masculin pluriel de prouvé. |
Where the eye mixes progrès and prouvés
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. progrès (CCVCCVC) and prouvés (CCVVCVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between progrès and prouvés
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: progrès is \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ\ while prouvés is \pʁu.ve\. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49411, 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\. prouvés is at rank #46,969, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁu.ve\.
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 49411, this pair ranks #170,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of progrès vs prouvés
Shared letters: oprs. Private to "progrès": gè. Private to "prouvés": uvé.
"progrès" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "prouvés" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "progrès" for "prouvés" ever safe?
Frequency check: "progrès" vs "prouvés" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "progrès" and "prouvés" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "progrès" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prouvés" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #170,899 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "progrès" and "prouvés" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prouvées vs prouvés". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #170,899 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.