pacevsplaneWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pace is a noun, plane is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#33,216
“pace” frequency rank
#9,072
“plane” frequency rank
42288
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pace plane
Definition der Frieden, der Friede Nominativ Singular Femininum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs plan

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pace and plane apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pace
5 ch
plane

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pace is [ˈpaːt͡ʃe] while plane is [ˈplaːnə]. 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 42288, 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]. plane is at rank #9,072, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈplaːnə].

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 42288, this pair ranks #1,454,032 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pace vs plane

Shared letters: aep. Private to "pace": c. Private to "plane": ln.

"pace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "plane" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paceapce · pacce · paec · pcae · ppace
  • planelpane · palne · plaen · pllane · plnae · pplane

Frequency comparison

pace#33,216
plane#9,072

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pace" and "plane" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pace" is a noun and "plane" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pace" or "plane"?
"plane" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,072 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 plane

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pace”; for an adjective, it's “plane”.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list