pronomsvsproposWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,143
“pronoms” frequency rank
#561
“propos” frequency rank
26704
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pronoms propos
Definition Pluriel de pronom. Paroles échangées dans la conversation.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pronoms and propos apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
pronoms
6 ch
propos

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pronoms (\pʁɔ.nɔ̃\) and propos (\pʁɔ.po\) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26704, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pronoms is recorded at frequency rank #26,143, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.nɔ̃\. propos is at rank #561, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.po\.

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 26704, this pair ranks #333,342 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pronoms vs propos

Shared letters: oprs. Private to "pronoms": mn. Private to "propos": -.

"pronoms" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "propos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pronomspornoms · ppronoms · prnooms · pronmos · pronnoms · pronomms · pronomss · pronosm
  • proposporpos · ppropos · proops · proposs · proppos · propso · prpoos · prropos

Frequency comparison

pronoms#26,143
propos#561

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pronoms" and "propos" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔ.nɔ̃\ versus \pʁɔ.po\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pronoms" or "propos"?
"propos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #561 in our French list, against #26,143 for "pronoms". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pronoms vs propos

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 “pronoms” 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