Which to use
“permette” and “perpétue” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #11,827
- “permette” frequency rank
- #24,322
- “perpétue” frequency rank
- 36149
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | permette | perpétue |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de permettre. | Première personne du singulier du présent de l’indicatif de perpétuer. |
Where the eye mixes permette and perpétue
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. permette (CVCCVCCV) and perpétue (CVCCVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Why the eye confuses permette with perpétue
A purely visual mix-up. permette (\pɛʁ.mɛt\) and perpétue (\pɛʁ.pe.ty\) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
permette is recorded at frequency rank #11,827, classified as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.mɛt\. perpétue is at rank #24,322, tagged as averb, pronounced \pɛʁ.pe.ty\.
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 36149, this pair ranks #271,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of permette vs perpétue
Shared letters: eprt. Private to "permette": m. Private to "perpétue": ué.
"permette" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV · "perpétue" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- permette ← eprmette · pemrette · peremtte · permete · permetet · permmette · permtete · perrmette
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "permette" for "perpétue" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "permette" or "perpétue" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "permette" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "perpétue" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #271,655 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "permette" and "perpétue" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perpétue vs perpétuent". 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 #271,655 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.