permitir vs persistir, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“permitir” and “persistir” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,062
“permitir” frequency rank: #25,430
“persistir” frequency rank: 27492
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	permitir	persistir
Definition	autorizar, consentir, dar permissão	continuar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set permitir and persistir apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

permitir

9 ch

persistir

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

permitir and persistir are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27492, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

permitir is recorded at frequency rank #2,062, classified as averb, pronounced /pɨɾ.mi.ˈtiɾ/. persistir is at rank #25,430, tagged as averb.

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 27492, this pair ranks #41,461 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of permitir vs persistir

Shared letters: eiprt. Private to "permitir": m. Private to "persistir": s.

"permitir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "persistir" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

permitir ← eprmitir · pemritir · perimtir · permiitr · permitirr · permitri · permittir · permmitir
persistir ← eprsistir · perisstir · perrsistir · persisitr · persisstir · persistirr · persistri · persisttir

Frequency comparison

permitir#2,062

persistir#25,430

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "permitir" and "persistir" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "permitir" or "persistir"?

"permitir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,062 in our Portuguese list, against #25,430 for "persistir". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering permitir vs persistir

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “permitir” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable