permitevspermitesWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#900
“permite” frequency rank
#26,178
“permites” frequency rank
27078
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permite permites
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de permitir o de permitirse. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de permitir o de permitirse.

Where the eye mixes permite and permites

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

7 ch
permite
8 ch
permites

Visual trap between permite and permites

A purely visual mix-up. permite ([peɾˈmit̪e]) and permites ([peɾˈmit̪es]) 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) - “permite” sits inside “permites”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27078, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permite is recorded at frequency rank #900, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾˈmit̪e]. permites is at rank #26,178, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾˈmit̪es].

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 27078, this pair ranks #228,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permite vs permites

Shared letters: eimprt. Private to "permite": -. Private to "permites": s.

"permite" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "permites" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permiteeprmite · pemrite · perimte · permiet · permitte · permmite · permtie · perrmite
  • permiteseprmites · pemrites · perimtes · permiets · permitess · permitse · permittes · permmites

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "permite" and "permites" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([peɾˈmit̪e] versus [peɾˈmit̪es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "permite" or "permites"?
"permite" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #900 in our Spanish list, against #26,178 for "permites". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "permite" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "permites" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #228,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "permite" and "permites" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "permites vs permitiese". 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 #228,551 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list