Which to use
“prémisse” and “promesse” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,993
- “prémisse” frequency rank
- #3,636
- “promesse” frequency rank
- 42629
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | prémisse | promesse |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Chacune des deux propositions d’un syllogisme, la majeure et la mineure, d’où résulte la conclusion. | Action de promettre ; ou résultat de cette action. |
Where the eye mixes prémisse and promesse
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. prémisse and promesse follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses prémisse with promesse
A purely visual mix-up. prémisse (\pʁe.mis\) and promesse (\pʁɔ.mɛs\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42629, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
prémisse is recorded at frequency rank #38,993, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁe.mis\. promesse is at rank #3,636, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.mɛs\.
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 42629, this pair ranks #224,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of prémisse vs promesse
Shared letters: emprs. Private to "prémisse": ié. Private to "promesse": o.
"prémisse" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "promesse" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- promesse ← pormesse · ppromesse · prmoesse · proemsse · promese · promeses · prommesse · promsese
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "prémisse" for "promesse" ever safe?
Which is more common, "prémisse" or "promesse"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "prémisse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "promesse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #224,170 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "prémisse" and "promesse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prémisse vs prémisses". 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 #224,170 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.