PromisvsproposWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Promis” and “propos” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,463
“Promis” frequency rank
#48,397
“propos” frequency rank
61860
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Promis propos
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Promi die Absicht

Where the eye mixes Promis and propos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
Promis
6 ch
propos

Why the eye confuses Promis with propos

A purely visual mix-up. Promis ([ˈpʁɔmis]) and propos ([pʀοpo]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61860, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Promis is recorded at frequency rank #13,463, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpʁɔmis]. propos is at rank #48,397, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pʀοpo].

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 61860, this pair ranks #733,967 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Promis vs propos

Shared letters: oprs. Private to "Promis": im. Private to "propos": -.

"Promis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "propos" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Promispormis · ppromis · prmois · proims · promiss · prommis · promsi · prromis
  • proposporpos · ppropos · proops · proposs · proppos · propso · prpoos · prropos

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Promis" for "propos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpʁɔmis] versus [pʀοpo]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Promis" or "propos"?
"Promis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,463 in our German list, against #48,397 for "propos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Promis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "propos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #733,967 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Promis" and "propos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "propos vs Proton". 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 #733,967 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list