Which to use
“pan” is a noun and “patt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,913
- “pan” frequency rank
- #45,502
- “patt” frequency rank
- 56415
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pan | patt |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Pfanne, Kochgerät zum Braten | Im Schachspiel: nicht im Schach zu stehen, jedoch keinen regelgerechten Zug mehr ausführen können, ohne in ein Schach zu geraten; die Partie wird dann als unentschieden gewertet |
Where the eye mixes pan and patt
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pan vs patt
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pan is [pæn] while patt is [pat]. 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 56415, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pan is recorded at frequency rank #10,913, classified as anoun, pronounced [pæn]. patt is at rank #45,502, tagged as anadj, pronounced [pat].
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 56415, this pair ranks #941,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pan vs patt
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pan": n. Private to "patt": t.
"pan" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "patt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
- patt ← aptt · pat · ppatt · ptat
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pan" and "patt" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary German text, does "pan" or "patt" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patt" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #941,059 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pan" and "patt" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patt vs Pau". 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 #941,059 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.