près vs prêt

Summary

près and prêt sound the same (/pʁɛ/) but are unrelated: près is an adverb/preposition meaning "near" (près de + noun), while prêt is an adjective meaning "ready" that agrees (prêt/prête/prêts/prêtes) and takes prêt à + infinitive. A homophone un prêt also exists, meaning "a loan".

Explanation

près and prêt are homophones — both pronounced /pʁɛ/ with a silent final consonant — but they have nothing in common in meaning or grammar. Since the ear cannot separate them, the choice is a spelling decision driven by what the word is doing in the sentence. The two ideas are "near" (distance) and "ready" (state), which is usually easy to tell apart once you look at the context.

près expresses nearness. It is most often the preposition près de followed by a noun or an adverb: près de la gare (near the station), près de chez moi (near my place), tout près d'ici (very close to here). It can also stand alone as an adverb: La sortie est tout près (the exit is very near). It is invariable — being an adverb/preposition, it never changes form for gender or number.

prêt expresses readiness. It is an adjective, so it agrees with the noun or pronoun it describes: Je suis prêt (masculine), Elle est prête (feminine), Ils sont prêts, Elles sont prêtes. It typically pairs with the preposition à before an infinitive: prêt à partir (ready to leave), prête à aider (ready to help), or with a noun: Le dîner est prêt (dinner is ready).

There is a second, unrelated prêt: the masculine noun un prêt, meaning "a loan" (from the verb prêter, to lend): demander un prêt (to ask for a loan), un prêt immobilier (a home loan). It is spelled exactly like the adjective and, being a noun, takes an article. Context makes it clear — a loan is a thing you request or repay, not a state you are in.

The traps for English speakers are three. First, mixing up the two spellings because they sound identical — writing *prêt de la gare (should be près de) or *je suis près (should be prêt) for "I'm ready". Second, dropping the accent or the agreement on prêt (*elle est pret instead of prête). Third, confusing the constructions: près always wants de before its complement (près de), whereas prêt wants à before an infinitive (prêt à) — swapping them (*près à partir, *prêt de partir) is wrong.

Rule of thumb: does the word mean "near" and is followed by de? → près (invariable). Does it mean "ready", describe someone/something, agree, and often lead into à + infinitive? → prêt (prête/prêts/prêtes). And if it is a thing you borrow, it is the noun un prêt.

Examples

J'habite près de la gare. — I live near the station. (près de + noun expressing nearness; invariable.)

Es-tu prêt à partir ? — Are you ready to leave? (prêt (masculine) + à + infinitive.)

Elle est prête pour l'examen. — She is ready for the exam. (Feminine agreement -> prête.)

La boulangerie est tout près. — The bakery is very close. (près used alone as an adverb of distance.)

Ils ont demandé un prêt à la banque. — They asked the bank for a loan. (The noun un prêt (a loan), spelled like the adjective but preceded by an article.)

Le dîner sera prêt dans cinq minutes. — Dinner will be ready in five minutes. (prêt as an adjective agreeing with the masculine noun dîner.)

Common mistakes

Related rules

• a vs à
• Common prepositions (avec, sans, chez, pour, par)
• Adjective agreement