Which to use
“prou” is an adverb and “proue” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,198
- “prou” frequency rank
- #20,532
- “proue” frequency rank
- 47730
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prou | proue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Assez, beaucoup. | Partie extrême de l’avant d’un vaisseau, l’arrière étant la poupe. |
Same sound, different letters: prou vs proue
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 4 letters.
Homophone desk: prou vs proue
Say them out loud and nothing separates them: prou and proue carry the same recorded pronunciation, \pʁu\. Grammar is what tells them apart: one is anadverb, the other anoun, so most sentences will only accept one of them. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “prou” sits inside “proue”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47730, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prou is recorded at frequency rank #27,198, classified as anadv, pronounced \pʁu\. proue is at rank #20,532, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁu\.
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 47730, this pair ranks #184,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prou vs proue
Shared letters: opru. Private to "prou": -. Private to "proue": e.
"prou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "proue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prou" and "proue" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "prou" vs "proue" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
"prou" and "proue" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "prou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #184,596 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prou" and "proue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prep vs prou". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #184,596 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.