progressifsvsprogressiveWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#40,436
“progressifs” frequency rank
#7,883
“progressive” frequency rank
48319
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature progressifs progressive
Definition Masculin pluriel de progressif. Féminin singulier de progressif.

Where the eye mixes progressifs and progressive

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

11 ch
progressifs
11 ch
progressive

Why the eye confuses progressifs with progressive

A purely visual mix-up. progressifs (\pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.sif\) and progressive (\pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.siv\) 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 48319, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

progressifs is recorded at frequency rank #40,436, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.sif\. progressive is at rank #7,883, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.siv\.

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 48319, this pair ranks #179,846 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of progressifs vs progressive

Shared letters: egioprs. Private to "progressifs": f. Private to "progressive": v.

"progressifs" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCC  ·  "progressive" · 11 letters · shape CCVCCVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • progressifsporgressifs · pprogressifs · prgoressifs · progerssifs · proggressifs · progresifs · progresisfs · progressfis
  • progressiveporgressive · pprogressive · prgoressive · progerssive · proggressive · progresisve · progresive · progressiev

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "progressifs" and "progressive" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.sif\ versus \pʁɔ.ɡʁɛ.siv\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "progressifs" or "progressive"?
"progressive" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,883 in our French list, against #40,436 for "progressifs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "progressifs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "progressive" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #179,846 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "progressifs" and "progressive" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "progressifs vs progressions". 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 #179,846 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list