Which to use
“prologue” and “prolonge” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #18,566
- “prologue” frequency rank
- #11,108
- “prolonge” frequency rank
- 29674
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prologue | prolonge |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Discours préliminaire, avant-propos. | Cordage qui servait, dans le tir, à réunir la pièce d’artillerie à son avant-train. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set prologue and prolonge apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. prologue (\pʁɔ.lɔɡ\) and prolonge (\pʁɔ.lɔ̃ʒ\) 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 29674, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prologue is recorded at frequency rank #18,566, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.lɔɡ\. prolonge is at rank #11,108, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.lɔ̃ʒ\.
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 29674, this pair ranks #315,201 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prologue vs prolonge
Shared letters: eglopr. Private to "prologue": u. Private to "prolonge": n.
"prologue" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVV · "prolonge" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prologue" and "prolonge" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "prologue" or "prolonge"?
Remembering prologue vs prolonge
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 “prologue” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable