palmavsPalmeWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: palma is a noun, Palme is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“palma” is a noun and “Palme” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,284
“palma” frequency rank
#48,953
“Palme” frequency rank
80237
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature palma Palme
Definition Alternative form of palmo, traditional Portuguese and Spanish units of length. A surname from Swedish.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set palma and Palme apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
palma
5 ch
Palme

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: palma is anoun and Palmeaname. On the page they differ by a single letter - a in “palma” becomes e in “Palme”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80237, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

palma is recorded at frequency rank #31,284, classified as anoun. Palme is at rank #48,953, tagged as aname.

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 80237, this pair ranks #20,237 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of palma vs Palme

Shared letters: almp. Private to "palma": -. Private to "Palme": e.

"palma" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Palme" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • palmaaplma · palam · pallma · palmma · pamla · plama · ppalma
  • Palmeaplme · palem · pallme · palmme · pamle · plame · ppalme

Frequency comparison

palma#31,284
Palme#48,953

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "palma" and "Palme" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "palma" is a noun and "Palme" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "palma" or "Palme"?
"palma" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,284 in our English list, against #48,953 for "Palme". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering palma vs Palme

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “palma”; for a name, it's “Palme”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “palma” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list