Which to use
“persistance” is a noun and “persistant” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #18,018
- “persistance” frequency rank
- #22,028
- “persistant” frequency rank
- 40046
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | persistance | persistant |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Qualité de ce qui est persistant ; action de persister. | Qui dure, qui résiste, qui demeure inchangé. |
Where the eye mixes persistance and persistant
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between persistance and persistant
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: persistance is \pɛʁ.sis.tɑ̃s\ while persistant is \pɛʁ.si.stɑ̃\. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40046, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
persistance is recorded at frequency rank #18,018, classified as anoun, pronounced \pɛʁ.sis.tɑ̃s\. persistant is at rank #22,028, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pɛʁ.si.stɑ̃\.
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 40046, this pair ranks #243,449 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of persistance vs persistant
Shared letters: aeinprst. Private to "persistance": c. Private to "persistant": -.
"persistance" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCCV · "persistant" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- persistance ← eprsistance · perisstance · perrsistance · persisatnce · persisstance · persistacne · persistancce · persistanec
- persistant ← eprsistant · perisstant · perrsistant · persisatnt · persisstant · persistannt · persistantt · persistatn
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "persistance" and "persistant" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "persistance" vs "persistant" - which ranks higher?
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 "persistance" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persistant" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #243,449 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "persistance" and "persistant" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "persistant vs persistants". 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 #243,449 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.