permisvspersilWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: permis is a adjective, persil is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“permis” is an adjective and “persil” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#827
“permis” frequency rank
#25,434
“persil” frequency rank
26261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permis persil
Definition Qui n’est pas interdit. Plante potagère aromatique de la famille des apiacées qui ressemble au cerfeuil et qui sert à divers usages pour la cuisine.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permis and persil apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
permis
6 ch
persil

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

permis and persil form a confusable pair in the French index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 26261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permis is recorded at frequency rank #827, classified as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ.mi\. persil is at rank #25,434, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.sil\.

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 26261, this pair ranks #336,144 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Frequency comparison

permis#827
persil#25,434

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permis" and "persil" be used interchangeably?
No, "permis" and "persil" have distinct meanings and cannot be swapped without changing the meaning of a sentence. Understanding the specific definition and context for each word is essential for correct usage.

Remembering permis vs persil

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “permis”; for a noun, it's “persil”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “permis” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list