permitirvspermitirseWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,411
“permitir” frequency rank
#16,935
“permitirse” frequency rank
19346
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permitir permitirse
Definition Dar su consentimiento quien tenga autoridad competente, para que otros hagan de dejen de hacer algo. Dar permiso o autorización de hacer algo.

Where the eye mixes permitir and permitirse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. permitir runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against permitirse's 10 (CVCCVCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
permitir
10 ch
permitirse

Visual trap between permitir and permitirse

A purely visual mix-up. permitir ([peɾmiˈt̪iɾ]) and permitirse ([peɾmiˈt̪iɾse]) 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 2 extra letter(s) - “permitir” sits inside “permitirse”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 19346, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permitir is recorded at frequency rank #2,411, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾmiˈt̪iɾ]. permitirse is at rank #16,935, tagged as averb, pronounced [peɾmiˈt̪iɾse].

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 19346, this pair ranks #264,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of permitir vs permitirse

Shared letters: eimprt. Private to "permitir": -. Private to "permitirse": s.

"permitir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "permitirse" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permitir ← eprmitir · pemritir · perimtir · permiitr · permitirr · permitri · permittir · permmitir
  • permitirse ← eprmitirse · pemritirse · perimtirse · permiitrse · permitirce · permitires · permitirrse · permitirsse

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "permitir" and "permitirse" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([peɾmiˈt̪iɾ] versus [peɾmiˈt̪iɾse]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "permitir" or "permitirse" show up more?
"permitir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,411 in our Spanish list, against #16,935 for "permitirse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "permitir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "permitirse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #264,170 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "permitir" and "permitirse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "permitiese vs permitirse". 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 #264,170 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