permettantvspromettantTell them apart

Which to use

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

#1,711
“permettant” frequency rank
#17,236
“promettant” frequency rank
18947
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permettant promettant
Definition Participe présent de permettre. Participe présent de promettre.

Where the eye mixes permettant and promettant

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. permettant (CVCCVCCVCC) and promettant (CCVCVCCVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

10 ch
permettant
10 ch
promettant

Visual trap between permettant and promettant

A purely visual mix-up. permettant (\pɛʁ.mɛ.tɑ̃\) and promettant (\pʁɔ.mɛ.tɑ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18947, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permettant is recorded at frequency rank #1,711, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.mɛ.tɑ̃\. promettant is at rank #17,236, tagged as averb, pronounced \pʁɔ.mɛ.tɑ̃\.

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 18947, this pair ranks #375,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of permettant vs promettant

Shared letters: aemnprt. Private to "permettant": -. Private to "promettant": o.

"permettant" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC  ·  "promettant" · 10 letters · shape CCVCVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permettanteprmettant · pemrettant · peremttant · permetant · permetatnt · permettannt · permettantt · permettatn
  • promettantpormettant · ppromettant · prmoettant · proemttant · prometant · prometatnt · promettannt · promettantt

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "permettant" for "promettant" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pɛʁ.mɛ.tɑ̃\ versus \pʁɔ.mɛ.tɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "permettant" or "promettant"?
"permettant" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,711 in our French list, against #17,236 for "promettant". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "permettant" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "promettant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #375,783 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "permettant" and "promettant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "projetant vs promettant". 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 #375,783 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list