Which to use
“protègent” and “protégez” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #13,450
- “protègent” frequency rank
- #24,728
- “protégez” frequency rank
- 38178
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | protègent | protégez |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Troisième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de protéger. | Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de protéger. |
Where the eye mixes protègent and protégez
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. protègent runs 9 letters (CCVCVCVCC) against protégez's 8 (CCVCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: protègent vs protégez
A purely visual mix-up. protègent (\pʁɔ.tɛʒ\) and protégez (\pʁɔ.te.ʒe\) 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 38178, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
protègent is recorded at frequency rank #13,450, classified as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.tɛʒ\. protégez is at rank #24,728, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.te.ʒe\.
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 38178, this pair ranks #257,118 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of protègent vs protégez
Shared letters: egoprt. Private to "protègent": nè. Private to "protégez": zé.
"protègent" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCC · "protégez" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "protègent" for "protégez" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "protègent" or "protégez" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "protègent" and "protégez" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "protègent" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "protégez" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #257,118 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "protègent" and "protégez" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proteger vs protégez". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #257,118 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.