Which to use
“promesse” is a noun and “promise” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,636
- “promesse” frequency rank
- #11,275
- “promise” frequency rank
- 14911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | promesse | promise |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de promettre ; ou résultat de cette action. | Féminin singulier de promis. |
Where the eye mixes promesse and promise
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. promesse runs 8 letters (CCVCVCCV) against promise's 7 (CCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between promesse and promise
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: promesse is \pʁɔ.mɛs\ while promise is \pʁɔ.miz\. 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 14911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
promesse is recorded at frequency rank #3,636, classified as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.mɛs\. promise is at rank #11,275, tagged as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.miz\.
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 14911, this pair ranks #394,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of promesse vs promise
Shared letters: emoprs. Private to "promesse": -. Private to "promise": i.
"promesse" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV · "promise" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "promesse" and "promise" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "promesse" or "promise"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "promesse" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "promise" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #394,666 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "promesse" and "promise" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "promise vs prompte". 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 #394,666 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.