permetvspermetteWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“permet” and “permette” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#456
“permet” frequency rank
#11,827
“permette” frequency rank
12283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permet permette
Definition Troisième personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de permettre. Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de permettre.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permet and permette apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
permet
8 ch
permette

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. permet (\pɛʁ.mɛ\) and permette (\pɛʁ.mɛt\) 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) - “permet” sits inside “permette”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12283, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permet is recorded at frequency rank #456, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.mɛ\. permette is at rank #11,827, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.mɛt\.

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 12283, this pair ranks #405,889 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of permet vs permette

Shared letters: emprt. Private to "permet": -. Private to "permette": -.

"permet" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "permette" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permeteprmet · pemret · peremt · permett · permmet · permte · perrmet · ppermet
  • permetteeprmette · pemrette · peremtte · permete · permetet · permmette · permtete · perrmette

Frequency comparison

permet#456
permette#11,827

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permet" and "permette" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁ.mɛ\ versus \pɛʁ.mɛt\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "permet" or "permette"?
"permet" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #456 in our French list, against #11,827 for "permette". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering permet vs permette

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 “permet” 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