Which to use
“prou” is an adverb and “pu” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,198
- “prou” frequency rank
- #307
- “pu” frequency rank
- 27505
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prou | pu |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Assez, beaucoup. | Participe passé masculin singulier du verbe pouvoir. |
Where the eye mixes prou and pu
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: prou vs pu
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: prou is \pʁu\ while pu is \py\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27505, 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\. pu is at rank #307, tagged as averb, pronounced \py\.
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 27505, this pair ranks #328,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prou vs pu
Shared letters: pu. Private to "prou": or. Private to "pu": -.
"prou" · 4 letters · shape CCVV · "pu" · 2 letters · shape CV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prou ← pprou · prrou · pruo · rpou
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "prou" and "pu" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary French text, does "prou" or "pu" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "prou" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #328,545 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prou" and "pu" 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 #328,545 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.