pacevspackenWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pace is a noun, packen is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pace” is a noun and “packen” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#33,216
“pace” frequency rank
#4,546
“packen” frequency rank
37762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pace packen
Definition der Frieden, der Friede etwas zusammenlegen, zusammenfalten, wegräumen, in eine gepackte Form (Bündel, Packen, Paket) bringen, zubinden, zusammenkleben, in eine Verpackung tun

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pace and packen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pace
6 ch
packen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pace is [ˈpaːt͡ʃe] while packen is [ˈpakn̩]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pace is recorded at frequency rank #33,216, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaːt͡ʃe]. packen is at rank #4,546, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpakn̩].

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 37762, this pair ranks #1,581,690 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pace vs packen

Shared letters: acep. Private to "pace": -. Private to "packen": kn.

"pace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "packen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paceapce · pacce · paec · pcae · ppace
  • packenapcken · paccken · pacekn · packenn · packken · packne · pakcen · pcaken

Frequency comparison

pace#33,216
packen#4,546

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pace" and "packen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pace" is a noun and "packen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pace" or "packen"?
"packen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,546 in our German list, against #33,216 for "pace". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pace vs packen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pace”; for a verb, it's “packen”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pace” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list