Which to use
“Pardon” and “Person” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #22,092
- “Pardon” frequency rank
- #445
- “Person” frequency rank
- 22537
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | Pardon | Person |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Militärjargon, die Schonung gegnerischen Lebens | ein Mensch |
Where the eye mixes Pardon and Person
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Pardon and Person follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses Pardon with Person
A purely visual mix-up. Pardon ([paʁˈdɔ̃ː]) and Person ([pɛʁˈzoːn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22537, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
Pardon is recorded at frequency rank #22,092, classified as anoun, pronounced [paʁˈdɔ̃ː]. Person is at rank #445, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɛʁˈzoːn].
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 22537, this pair ranks #1,872,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of Pardon vs Person
Shared letters: nopr. Private to "Pardon": ad. Private to "Person": es.
"Pardon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "Person" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "Pardon" for "Person" ever safe?
Frequency check: "Pardon" vs "Person" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "Pardon" and "Person" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "Pardon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "Person" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,872,970 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "Pardon" and "Person" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Paraden vs Pardon". 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 #1,872,970 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.