parsvspattWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pars is a verb, patt is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pars” is a verb and “patt” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#47,639
“pars” frequency rank
#45,502
“patt” frequency rank
93141
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pars patt
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs parsen 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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pars and patt apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pars
4 ch
patt

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pars is [paʁs] while patt is [pat]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 93141, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pars is recorded at frequency rank #47,639, classified as averb, pronounced [paʁs]. 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 93141, this pair ranks #24,846 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pars vs patt

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pars": rs. Private to "patt": t.

"pars" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "patt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parsaprs · parrs · parss · pasr · ppars · pras
  • pattaptt · pat · ppatt · ptat

Frequency comparison

pars#47,639
patt#45,502

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pars" and "patt" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pars" is a verb and "patt" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pars" or "patt"?
"patt" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #45,502 in our German list, against #47,639 for "pars". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pars vs patt

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pars”; for an adjective, it's “patt”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pars” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list