personne

\pɛʁ.sɔn\

/\pɛʁ.sɔn\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“personne” is in the everyday core of French, ranked #149 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#149
frequency rank, French
8
letters
10
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Être humain considéré en tant qu’individu.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

personne vs personnes
89% similar
personne vs personnel
89% similar
personne vs personnels
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for personne
PropertyValue
Headwordpersonne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\pɛʁ.sɔn\
Letters8
Frequency rank#149
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “personne” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). personne lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for personne is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \pɛʁ.sɔn\. Corpus data places it at rank #149 in overall French word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for personne, with forms such as "eprsonne", "perosnne", and "perrsonne". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 11 confusable-pair relationships, "personnes", "personnel", "personnels", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is personne, spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Être humain considéré en tant qu’individu.
  2. 2
    Individu ou entité consciente d'elle-même et à laquelle on reconnaît des droits.
  3. 3
    Rôle que tient la personne ou la chose en cause dans l’acte d’énonciation.
  4. 4
    Précédé d’un adjectif possessif, se dit de la vie, du corps, du physique de celui qui parle, à qui l’on parle, ou dont on parle.
  5. 5
    Personnage.
  6. 6
    Se dit, dans certaines locutions, des femmes seulement.
  7. 7
    Se dit quelquefois d’un homme ou d’une femme, considérés en eux-mêmes.
  8. 8
    Sert, dans certaines expressions, à donner plus de force, d’ampleur, de solennité à ce que l’on dit.
  9. 9
    Sujet de droits, doué de capacité et responsable.
  10. 10
    Hypostase divine, dans la théologie chrétienne.

This word in other languages

person(English)persona(Español)Person(Deutsch)pessoa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: eprsonne,perosnne,perrsonne,persnone,persone,personen,perssonne,pesronne,ppersonne,presonne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of personne - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

eprsonne2perosnne2perrsonne1persnone2persone1personen2perssonne1pesronne2
Edit distance from "personne"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "personne"?
"personne" is spelled P-E-R-S-O-N-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \pɛʁ.sɔn\.
What does "personne" mean?
As a noun, "personne" means: Être humain considéré en tant qu’individu.
What words are commonly confused with "personne"?
"personne" is commonly confused with "personnes", "personnel", "personnels". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "personne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "personne" is \pɛʁ.sɔn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "personne" come from?
"personne" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “personne”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is P-E-R-S-O-N-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \pɛʁ.sɔn\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “personnes” - see the side-by-side comparison. personne vs personnes
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list