protegervsprotégezWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#38,990
“proteger” frequency rank
#24,728
“protégez” frequency rank
63718
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature proteger protégez
Definition Protéger. Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de protéger.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set proteger and protégez apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
proteger
8 ch
protégez

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. proteger (\pro.te.ˈʒɛr\) 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 share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63718, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

proteger is recorded at frequency rank #38,990, classified as averb, pronounced \pro.te.ˈʒɛr\. 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 63718, this pair ranks #80,554 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of proteger vs protégez

Shared letters: egoprt. Private to "proteger": -. Private to "protégez": .

"proteger" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC  ·  "protégez" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • protegerporteger · pproteger · proetger · proteegr · protegerr · protegger · protegre · protgeer

Frequency comparison

proteger#38,990
protégez#24,728

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "proteger" and "protégez" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pro.te.ˈʒɛr\ versus \pʁɔ.te.ʒe\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "proteger" or "protégez"?
"protégez" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,728 in our French list, against #38,990 for "proteger". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering proteger vs protégez

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 “proteger” 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