pattvspotConfusable pair

Quick tell: patt is a adjective, pot is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#45,502
“patt” frequency rank
#23,269
“pot” frequency rank
68771
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature patt pot
Definition 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 Topf

Where the eye mixes patt and pot

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
patt
3 ch
pot

Why the eye confuses patt with pot

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patt is [pat] while pot is [pɒt]. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68771, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

patt is recorded at frequency rank #45,502, classified as anadj, pronounced [pat]. pot is at rank #23,269, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɒt].

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 68771, this pair ranks #497,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of patt vs pot

Shared letters: pt. Private to "patt": a. Private to "pot": o.

"patt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pot" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pattaptt · pat · ppatt · ptat

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "patt" for "pot" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "patt" is an adjective and "pot" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "patt" or "pot"?
"pot" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,269 in our German list, against #45,502 for "patt". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "patt" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #497,335 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "patt" and "pot" 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 #497,335 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