pahvspushConfusable pair

Quick tell: pah is a intj, push is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pah” is an intj and “push” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,274
“pah” frequency rank
#17,387
“push” frequency rank
46661
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pah push
Definition Ausdruck für Geringschätzung oder Verachtung 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pushen

Where the eye mixes pah and push

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
pah
4 ch
push

Visual trap between pah and push

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pah is [paː] while push is [pʊʃ]. 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 (intj vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46661, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pah is recorded at frequency rank #29,274, classified as anintj, pronounced [paː]. push is at rank #17,387, tagged as averb, pronounced [pʊʃ].

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 46661, this pair ranks #1,311,447 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pah vs push

Shared letters: hp. Private to "pah": a. Private to "push": su.

"pah" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "push" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pushppush · psuh · puhs · pushh · pussh · upsh

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pah" for "push" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pah" is an intj and "push" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary German text, does "pah" or "push" show up more?
"push" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,387 in our German list, against #29,274 for "pah". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pah" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "push" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,311,447 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pah" and "push" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pah vs PMS". 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 #1,311,447 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list