promisvspromuConfusable pair

Quick tell: promis is a adjective, promu is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“promis” is an adjective and “promu” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,296
“promis” frequency rank
#11,109
“promu” frequency rank
13405
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature promis promu
Definition Qui fait l’objet d'une promesse. Personne qui a reçu une promotion.

Where the eye mixes promis and promu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
promis
5 ch
promu

Look-alike desk: promis vs promu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: promis is \pʁɔ.mi\ while promu is \pʁɔ.my\. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13405, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

promis is recorded at frequency rank #2,296, classified as anadj, pronounced \pʁɔ.mi\. promu is at rank #11,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pʁɔ.my\.

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 13405, this pair ranks #401,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of promis vs promu

Shared letters: mopr. Private to "promis": is. Private to "promu": u.

"promis" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "promu" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • promispormis · ppromis · prmois · proims · promiss · prommis · promsi · prromis
  • promupormu · ppromu · prmou · prommu · proum · prromu · rpomu

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "promis" and "promu" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "promis" is an adjective and "promu" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "promis" vs "promu" - which ranks higher?
"promis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,296 in our French list, against #11,109 for "promu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "promis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "promu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #401,157 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "promis" and "promu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "préau vs promu". 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 #401,157 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