permettevspierretteWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: permette is a verb, pierrette is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“permette” is a verb and “pierrette” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#11,827
“permette” frequency rank
#39,456
“pierrette” frequency rank
51283
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permette pierrette
Definition Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de permettre. Petite pierre. N’est plus guère usité que dans l’expression jouer à la pierrette (jeu d’enfants).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permette and pierrette apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
permette
9 ch
pierrette

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: permette is \pɛʁ.mɛt\ while pierrette is \pjɛ.ʁɛt\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 51283, 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\. pierrette is at rank #39,456, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pjɛ.ʁɛt\.

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 51283, this pair ranks #156,202 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permette vs pierrette

Shared letters: eprt. Private to "permette": m. Private to "pierrette": i.

"permette" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCCV  ·  "pierrette" · 9 letters · shape CVVCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permetteeprmette · pemrette · peremtte · permete · permetet · permmette · permtete · perrmette
  • pierretteiperrette · peirrette · pierertte · pierette · pierrete · pierretet · pierrtete · pirerette

Frequency comparison

permette#11,827
pierrette#39,456

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permette" and "pierrette" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "permette" is a verb and "pierrette" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "permette" or "pierrette"?
"permette" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,827 in our French list, against #39,456 for "pierrette". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering permette vs pierrette

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “permette”; for a noun, it's “pierrette”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “permette” 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