parolevsPoleTell them apart

Which to use

“parole” and “Pole” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,726
“parole” frequency rank
#8,921
“Pole” frequency rank
30647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parole Pole
Definition Wort, Rede Staatsbürger von Polen

Where the eye mixes parole and Pole

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. parole runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against Pole's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
parole
4 ch
Pole

Why the eye confuses parole with Pole

A purely visual mix-up. parole ([pa.ʁɔl]) and Pole ([ˈpoːlə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parole is recorded at frequency rank #21,726, classified as anoun, pronounced [pa.ʁɔl]. Pole is at rank #8,921, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoːlə].

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 30647, this pair ranks #1,743,808 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of parole vs Pole

Shared letters: elop. Private to "parole": ar. Private to "Pole": -.

"parole" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "Pole" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parole ← aprole · paorle · parloe · paroel · parolle · parrole · pparole · praole
  • Pole ← ploe · polle · ppole

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parole" and "Pole" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pa.ʁɔl] versus [ˈpoːlə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "parole" vs "Pole" - which ranks higher?
"Pole" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #8,921 in our German list, against #21,726 for "parole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "parole" and "Pole" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "parole" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,743,808 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "parole" and "Pole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parkte vs parole". 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 #1,743,808 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