permissionvspermissionsWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,329
“permission” frequency rank
#35,637
“permissions” frequency rank
41966
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature permission permissions
Definition Autorisation qui donne le pouvoir, la liberté de faire, de dire, etc. Pluriel de permission.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permission and permissions apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

10 ch
permission
11 ch
permissions

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

This is the hard kind. permission and permissions are pronounced identically (\pɛʁ.mi.sjɔ̃\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “permission” sits inside “permissions”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41966, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permission is recorded at frequency rank #6,329, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.mi.sjɔ̃\. permissions is at rank #35,637, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.mi.sjɔ̃\.

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 41966, this pair ranks #229,203 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permission vs permissions

Shared letters: eimnoprs. Private to "permission": -. Private to "permissions": -.

"permission" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVC  ·  "permissions" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • permissioneprmission · pemrission · perimssion · permision · permisison · permissino · permissionn · permissoin
  • permissionseprmissions · pemrissions · perimssions · permisions · permisisons · permissinos · permissionns · permissionss

Frequency comparison

permission#6,329
permissions#35,637

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permission" and "permissions" be used interchangeably?
No. They are pronounced the same (\pɛʁ.mi.sjɔ̃\), which is exactly why they get swapped in writing, but the dictionary meanings above are different, and pronunciation is no guide here.
Which is more common, "permission" or "permissions"?
"permission" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,329 in our French list, against #35,637 for "permissions". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering permission vs permissions

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “permission” 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