Per vs Perm, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“Per” and “Perm” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#3,203
“Per” frequency rank: #48,584
“Perm” frequency rank: 51787
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	Per	Perm
Definition	Pedro. Nombre propio de hombre.	Ciudad de Rusia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Per and Perm apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch

Per

4 ch

Perm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Per ([ˈpæːr]) and Perm ([ˈpeɾm]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Per” sits inside “Perm”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51787, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Per is recorded at frequency rank #3,203, classified as aname, pronounced [ˈpæːr]. Perm is at rank #48,584, tagged as aname, pronounced [ˈpeɾm].

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 51787, this pair ranks #96,032 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Per vs Perm

Shared letters: epr. Private to "Per": -. Private to "Perm": m.

"Per" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "Perm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

Perm ← eprm · pemr · permm · perrm · pperm · prem

Frequency comparison

Per#3,203

Perm#48,584

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Per" and "Perm" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently ([ˈpæːr] versus [ˈpeɾm]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "Per" or "Perm"?

"Per" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,203 in our Spanish list, against #48,584 for "Perm". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Per vs Perm

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Per” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable