PardonvsPersonWhat's the difference?

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 spellings diverge

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

6 ch
Pardon
6 ch
Person

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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

  • Pardonaprdon · padron · parddon · pardno · pardonn · parodn · parrdon · ppardon
  • Personeprson · perosn · perrson · persno · personn · persson · pesron · pperson

Frequency comparison

Pardon#22,092
Person#445

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pardon" and "Person" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([paʁˈdɔ̃ː] versus [pɛʁˈzoːn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pardon" or "Person"?
"Person" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #445 in our German list, against #22,092 for "Pardon". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering Pardon vs Person

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Pardon” 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