Which to use
“progresser” is a verb and “progressif” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,103
- “progresser” frequency rank
- #10,052
- “progressif” frequency rank
- 17155
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | progresser | progressif |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Faire des progrès. | Qui porte en avant, qui relève du progrès. |
Where the eye mixes progresser and progressif
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between progresser and progressif
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: progresser is \pʁɔ.ɡʁe.se\ while progressif is \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.sif\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17155, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
progresser is recorded at frequency rank #7,103, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁe.se\. progressif is at rank #10,052, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.sif\.
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 17155, this pair ranks #384,532 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of progresser vs progressif
Shared letters: egoprs. Private to "progresser": -. Private to "progressif": fi.
"progresser" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC · "progressif" · 10 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- progresser ← porgresser · pprogresser · prgoresser · progersser · proggresser · progreser · progresesr · progresserr
- progressif ← porgressif · pprogressif · prgoressif · progerssif · proggressif · progresif · progresisf · progressfi
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "progresser" and "progressif" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "progresser" vs "progressif" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "progresser" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "progressif" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #384,532 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "progresser" and "progressif" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "progressif vs progressifs". 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 #384,532 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.