processvspromesseConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#16,446
“process” frequency rank
#3,636
“promesse” frequency rank
20082
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature process promesse
Definition Ensemble des étapes ou des réglages, secrets ou non, qui permettent le bon fonctionnement d’un procédé industriel. Action de promettre ; ou résultat de cette action.

Where the eye mixes process and promesse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
process
8 ch
promesse

Look-alike desk: process vs promesse

A purely visual mix-up. process (\pʁɔ.sɛs\) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20082, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

process is recorded at frequency rank #16,446, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.sɛs\. 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 20082, this pair ranks #370,032 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of process vs promesse

Shared letters: eoprs. Private to "process": c. Private to "promesse": m.

"process" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCC  ·  "promesse" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • processporcess · pprocess · prcoess · proccess · procses · proecss · prrocess · rpocess
  • promessepormesse · ppromesse · prmoesse · proemsse · promese · promeses · prommesse · promsese

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "process" for "promesse" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pʁɔ.sɛs\ versus \pʁɔ.mɛs\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "process" vs "promesse" - which ranks higher?
"promesse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,636 in our French list, against #16,446 for "process". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "process" 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 #370,032 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "process" and "promesse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "process vs progress". 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 #370,032 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list