Persue or Pursue? Which Spelling Is Correct?

Persue or Pursue? The correct English spelling is pursue, while persue is a common misspelling caused by pronunciation and a spelling guess. The pronunciation of pursue sounds like per-sue and is pronounced /pərˈsuː/ in American English. Your brain may connect that sound with the wrong letter. English spelling doesn’t always follow sound, which makes this language both charming and chaotic. When you write, proper English writing requires the correct spelling, even when the wrong form may look natural on the page.

Learners can use memory tricks based on the spelling pattern. Connect pursue with its related words, including pursuit and pursuing, to make the spelling more straightforward. Repeating the word in real sentences can help you remember its form. Persue or pursue often creates confusion when you’re typed or writing quickly. The wrong letter becomes easier to notice when you understand the pattern. The usage, meaning, and history of the word can strengthen that memory.

You can pursue your dreams, pursue knowledge, or pursue anything you want to achieve. These real-life examples make the spelling easier to recognize. Pursue can be a sneaky spelling trap because its sound may seem to support persue. Standard English disagrees with that assumption. Learning the spelling pattern makes the correct form easier to remember, and these examples show why words don’t always match their sound.

Table of Contents

Quick Answer: Persue or Pursue?

Pursue is the correct spelling.

Persue is an incorrect spelling that people commonly use when they mean pursue.

Spelling	Correct?	Meaning
Pursue	✅ Yes	To follow, seek, continue, or work toward something
Persue	❌ No	A misspelling of pursue

Use pursue when you mean to chase something, work toward a goal, continue an activity, investigate something, or seek something you want.

For example:

She wants to pursue a career in medicine.

Not:

She wants to persue a career in medicine.

Major dictionaries, including Cambridge and Oxford, list pursue as the standard verb.

Why Is “Persue” Incorrect?

The problem is simple: persue isn’t the standard spelling of this English verb.

People often write persue because the first part of pursue isn’t pronounced exactly as its letters might suggest. In American English, the word sounds roughly like “per-SOO.” That pronunciation can tempt you to spell the first syllable with per-.

But the written form is pur-:

P-U-R-S-U-E

A useful way to remember it is to connect pursue with pursuit:

pursue
pursuing
pursued
pursuit
pursuer

These words all preserve the purs- spelling.

A Simple Spelling Trick

Think of the word family as one spelling family:

pursue → pursuit → pursuing → pursued

Once you remember purs-, you’re much less likely to accidentally write persue.

What Does “Pursue” Mean?

Pursue is a verb with several closely related meanings. At its core, it describes actively following, seeking, continuing, or working toward something.

Cambridge gives several major uses, including following someone or something, trying to achieve something, continuing an activity, and investigating or continuing to consider a matter.

Pursue as “Follow or Chase”

The most literal meaning involves following someone or something, often because you want to catch it.

For example:

The police pursued the vehicle.
The hunters pursued their prey.
The dog pursued the rabbit across the field.
Several reporters pursued the celebrity.

In this sense, pursue is close to chase or follow.

The word can sound slightly more formal than chase, especially in news reports, professional writing, or formal descriptions.

Pursue as “Work Toward a Goal”

This is one of the most common modern uses.

When you pursue a goal, you actively work toward achieving it. The goal could involve education, a career, personal ambitions, research, or another long-term objective.

For example:

Maya decided to pursue a degree in engineering.
He wants to pursue a career in journalism.
She continues to pursue her dream of becoming an author.
The team is pursuing its goal of expanding internationally.

Oxford defines this use as trying to achieve something over a period of time.

That time element matters. Pursue often suggests sustained effort rather than one quick attempt.

Pursue as “Continue an Activity”

You can also use pursue when you continue doing something because it interests you or serves a purpose.

For example:

He pursues photography in his spare time.
She decided to pursue her interest in architecture.
They continued to pursue new research opportunities.
The company is pursuing several new strategies.

Cambridge specifically recognizes this meaning as continuing to do something.

Pursue as “Investigate or Continue a Matter”

Pursue can also describe continuing an investigation, discussion, inquiry, or course of action.

Consider these examples:

The investigators are pursuing several leads.
We should pursue this matter further.
The researchers are pursuing a new line of inquiry.
The company decided not to pursue legal action.

Here, pursue suggests that someone continues actively working on a matter rather than simply thinking about it.

Oxford also lists uses involving continuing to discuss, investigate, or become involved in something.

Pursue: Definition, Pronunciation, and Word Forms

Pursue is a verb.

In American English, Cambridge gives the pronunciation as /pɚˈsuː/. The stress falls on the second syllable.

Here are its principal forms:

Form	Example
Pursue	I want to pursue this opportunity.
Pursues	She pursues her goals with determination.
Pursued	He pursued a career in law.
Pursuing	They are pursuing new opportunities.
Pursuit	Her pursuit of knowledge never stopped.
Pursuer	The pursuer followed the suspect.

Notice an important spelling detail: pursuing drops the final e before adding -ing.

So:

pursue → pursuing
not: pursueing

Oxford lists pursue, pursues, pursued, and pursuing as the standard forms.

How to Use “Pursue” in a Sentence

The structure you need depends on what you’re pursuing.

Usually, pursue takes a direct object:

subject + pursue + object

For example:

She pursued her dream.

Here, she is the subject and her dream is the object.

You can also use it with goals, careers, opportunities, strategies, investigations, relationships, and activities.

Examples of “Pursue”

I plan to pursue a master’s degree next year.
She decided to pursue a career in medicine.
They are pursuing new business opportunities.
He continues to pursue his passion for photography.
The researchers are pursuing several possible explanations.
The police pursued the suspect through the neighborhood.
We shouldn’t pursue that idea without more evidence.
She chose to pursue her education despite the challenges.
The company is pursuing a different strategy.
He spent years pursuing his dream.

The context determines whether pursue means physically following something or figuratively working toward it.

Pursue vs. Other Similar Words

Several words overlap with pursue, but they aren’t interchangeable in every sentence.

Pursue vs. Follow

Follow usually means moving behind someone or something or doing what someone else does.

Pursue often adds a sense of active effort toward a target.

Compare:

I followed my friend into the building.

Here, the main idea is moving behind your friend.

I pursued my goal of becoming a doctor.

Here, the idea involves sustained effort toward an objective.

So, follow is broader. Pursue often carries a stronger sense of intention.

Pursue vs. Chase

Chase usually emphasizes trying to catch someone or something.

Pursue can have that meaning too. However, it also works naturally with abstract goals.

You can:

chase a dog
pursue a suspect
chase a dream
pursue a career

The last two examples show why pursue has a wider figurative range.

Pursue vs. Seek

Seek means trying to find, obtain, or achieve something.

Pursue can express a similar idea while often emphasizing the continued effort involved.

For example:

She seeks a solution to the problem.

This emphasizes looking for an answer.

She pursues a solution to the problem.

This can emphasize the ongoing effort to find or develop that answer.

Both words can work in many contexts. The best choice depends on the shade of meaning you want.

Common Phrases With “Pursue”

Pursue frequently appears with certain nouns. Learning these combinations can make your writing sound more natural.

Phrase	Meaning
Pursue a career	Work toward a particular profession
Pursue a degree	Work toward earning an academic degree
Pursue an education	Continue formal learning
Pursue a goal	Work toward achieving an objective
Pursue a dream	Work toward an important personal ambition
Pursue an opportunity	Try to gain or develop an opportunity
Pursue a solution	Continue trying to find an answer
Pursue legal action	Continue with a legal case or process
Pursue a relationship	Try to develop a romantic relationship
Pursue happiness	Actively seek a happier life

These combinations appear in everyday, academic, professional, and formal English.

For instance, Oxford specifically gives examples involving pursuing a goal, aim, objective, policy, medical career, and dream.

Common Mistakes With “Pursue”

Spelling isn’t the only issue. A few related words can create confusion too.

Writing “Persue” Instead of “Pursue”

This is the main mistake.

Incorrect:

She wants to persue a career in teaching.

Correct:

She wants to pursue a career in teaching.

Incorrect:

They decided to persue the opportunity.

Correct:

They decided to pursue the opportunity.

The easiest fix is to remember the PUR-SU pattern.

Confusing “Pursue” With “Peruse”

This mistake is particularly tricky because peruse is a real word.

However, peruse and pursue have completely different meanings.

Pursue means to follow, seek, continue, or work toward something.

Peruse generally means to read or examine something. Cambridge describes peruse as reading through something, particularly to find the part you’re interested in.

Compare:

She pursued a career in law.

She perused the legal documents.

In the first sentence, she worked toward a career.

In the second, she read or examined documents.

Confusing “Pursue” With “Pursual”

The standard noun associated with pursue is pursuit.

For example:

His pursuit of knowledge continued for years.

You might occasionally encounter pursual, but pursuit is the established noun you should normally use in standard English.

This gives you another useful spelling connection:

pursue → pursuit

That connection makes both words easier to remember.

Pursue vs. Peruse vs. Persue

These three spellings deserve a side-by-side comparison because only two are standard English words.

Word	Standard word?	Meaning
Pursue	Yes	To follow, seek, continue, or work toward something
Peruse	Yes	To read or examine something
Persue	No	Common misspelling of pursue

Examples

Pursue:

She plans to pursue a career in medicine.

Peruse:

Please peruse the report before the meeting.

Persue:

She plans to persue a career in medicine.

The first two sentences use legitimate words. The third contains a spelling error.

Interestingly, peruse itself has a pronunciation close to pursue, which can make the distinction even harder for learners. Cambridge gives peruse as /pəˈruːz/ while American pursue is /pɚˈsuː/.

How to Remember the Spelling of “Pursue”

The best memory trick is to focus on pursuit.

Think:

Pursue → Pursuit

Both begin with purs-.

If you write persue, stop and ask yourself:

Would the related noun be “persuit”?

No. The correct noun is pursuit.

That makes the spelling pattern easier to recognize.

Another useful chain is:

PURSUE → PURSUED → PURSUING → PURSUIT

The shared purs- sequence acts like a spelling anchor.

A Quick Memory Sentence

Pursue your goal with the same “purs-” spelling found in pursuit.

It is short, practical, and easy to recall when you’re writing quickly.

Persue or Pursue: Quick Examples

Sometimes the fastest way to understand a spelling question is to see the word in context.

Incorrect Examples

I want to persue my education.
She decided to persue a new career.
The company will persue new opportunities.
He plans to persue his dream.
The police continued to persue the vehicle.

Correct Examples

I want to pursue my education.
She decided to pursue a new career.
The company will pursue new opportunities.
He plans to pursue his dream.
The police continued to pursue the vehicle.

The meaning doesn’t change because of the spelling mistake. The problem is that persue isn’t the standard written form.

A Practical Case Study: Choosing the Right Word

Imagine you’re writing a college application.

You want to say that your long-term goal involves studying environmental science.

You might write:

“I hope to pursue environmental science at university.”

That’s correct because you’re describing an educational path or goal.

Now imagine that you’re reading an environmental report:

“I perused the environmental report before the meeting.”

That’s also correct, but the meaning changes. Here, perused means you read or examined the material.

Now consider:

“I hope to persue environmental science.”

That spelling is incorrect.

The three sentences look similar, but they perform completely different jobs:

Sentence	Correct word	Meaning
I hope to pursue environmental science.	Pursue	Work toward or study something
I perused the environmental report.	Perused	Read or examine something
I hope to persue environmental science.	Persue	Incorrect spelling

This distinction is worth remembering because pursue and peruse can both appear in formal writing.

FAQs:

Is “persue” a word?

Persue is not the standard spelling of the verb you want when you mean “follow,” “seek,” or “work toward.” Use pursue instead.

Is “pursue” the correct spelling?

Yes. Pursue is the correct spelling.

For example:

She wants to pursue a career in engineering.

What does “pursue” mean?

Pursue can mean to follow or chase someone or something. It can also mean to work toward a goal, continue an activity, investigate a matter, or seek something you want.

What is the past tense of “pursue”?

The past tense is pursued.

For example:

He pursued his dream for many years.

The past participle is also pursued.

What is the noun form of “pursue”?

The common noun is pursuit.

For example:

Her pursuit of knowledge shaped her career.

Related words include pursuer and pursuant. Oxford lists pursuit and pursuer among the related forms of pursue.

What is the difference between “pursue” and “peruse”?

Pursue means to follow, seek, continue, or work toward something.

Peruse means to read or examine something.

For example:

He decided to pursue a new career.

She perused the application documents.

How do you pronounce “pursue”?

In American English, pursue is pronounced approximately /pɚˈsuː/. The second syllable carries the main stress.

Is “persuing” correct?

No. The correct spelling is pursuing.

The final e in pursue drops before -ing:

pursue → pursuing

Not:

persuing

and not:

pursueing

Is “pursued” spelled with an extra “e”?

No. The correct form is pursued.

She pursued her goal.

The spelling follows:

pursue + d → pursued

Conclusion:

Pursue is the correct spelling, while persue is a common misspelling. The pronunciation can make the wrong form seem natural, but remembering the spelling pattern makes pursue easier to use correctly. Whether you pursue your dreams, pursue knowledge, or pursue a goal, always choose pursue in proper English writing.