promessesvsprouessesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,365
“promesses” frequency rank
#25,088
“prouesses” frequency rank
29453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature promesses prouesses
Definition Pluriel de promesse. Pluriel de prouesse.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set promesses and prouesses apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
promesses
9 ch
prouesses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. promesses (\pʁɔ.mes\) and prouesses (\pʁu.ɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - m in “promesses” becomes u in “prouesses”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

promesses is recorded at frequency rank #4,365, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.mes\. prouesses is at rank #25,088, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁu.ɛs\.

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 29453, this pair ranks #316,559 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of promesses vs prouesses

Shared letters: eoprs. Private to "promesses": m. Private to "prouesses": u.

"promesses" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVC  ·  "prouesses" · 9 letters · shape CCVVVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • promessespormesses · ppromesses · prmoesses · proemsses · promesess · promessess · promessse · prommesses
  • prouessesporuesses · pprouesses · proeusses · proueses · prouesess · prouessess · prouessse · prouseses

Frequency comparison

promesses#4,365
prouesses#25,088

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "promesses" and "prouesses" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔ.mes\ versus \pʁu.ɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "promesses" or "prouesses"?
"promesses" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,365 in our French list, against #25,088 for "prouesses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering promesses vs prouesses

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 “promesses” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list