Which to use
“proue” is a noun and “prouver” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #20,532
- “proue” frequency rank
- #2,443
- “prouver” frequency rank
- 22975
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | proue | prouver |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Partie extrême de l’avant d’un vaisseau, l’arrière étant la poupe. | Établir la vérité de quelque chose par le raisonnement ou par le témoignage. |
Where the eye mixes proue and prouver
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. proue runs 5 letters (CCVVV) against prouver's 7 (CCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses proue with prouver
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: proue is \pʁu\ while prouver is \pʁu.ve\. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22975, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
proue is recorded at frequency rank #20,532, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁu\. prouver is at rank #2,443, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁu.ve\.
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 22975, this pair ranks #355,062 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of proue vs prouver
Shared letters: eopru. Private to "proue": -. Private to "prouver": v.
"proue" · 5 letters · shape CCVVV · "prouver" · 7 letters · shape CCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "proue" for "prouver" ever safe?
Which is more common, "proue" or "prouver"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "proue" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prouver" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #355,062 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "proue" and "prouver" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "priée vs proue". 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 #355,062 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.