permis vs pertuis, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#827
“permis” frequency rank: #44,627
“pertuis” frequency rank: 45454
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	permis	pertuis
Definition	Qui n’est pas interdit.	Ouverture ; trou.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permis and pertuis apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

permis

7 ch

pertuis

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: permis is \pɛʁ.mi\ while pertuis is \pɛʁ.tɥi\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45454, 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\. pertuis is at rank #44,627, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.tɥi\.

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 45454, this pair ranks #202,597 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permis vs pertuis

Shared letters: eiprs. Private to "permis": m. Private to "pertuis": tu.

"permis" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pertuis" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

permis ← eprmis · pemris · perims · permiss · permmis · permsi · perrmis · ppermis
pertuis ← eprtuis · perrtuis · pertius · perttuis · pertuiss · pertusi · perutis · petruis

Frequency comparison

permis#827

pertuis#44,627

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permis" and "pertuis" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "permis" is an adjective and "pertuis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "permis" or "pertuis"?

"permis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #827 in our French list, against #44,627 for "pertuis". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering permis vs pertuis

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 “pertuis”.
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