PechvspeuConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,547
“Pech” frequency rank
#40,134
“peu” frequency rank
44681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pech peu
Definition Rückstand bei der Teerherstellung der Fuß; der unterste Abschnitt der Beine der Wirbeltiere, bei den Primaten und dem Menschen nur der beiden hinteren/unteren Extremitäten

Where the eye mixes Pech and peu

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

4 ch
Pech
3 ch
peu

Visual trap between Pech and peu

A purely visual mix-up. Pech ([pɛç]) and peu ([pɛw]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pech is recorded at frequency rank #4,547, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɛç]. peu is at rank #40,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɛw].

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 44681, this pair ranks #1,378,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pech vs peu

Shared letters: ep. Private to "Pech": ch. Private to "peu": u.

"Pech" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "peu" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pechepch · pceh · pecch · pechh · pehc · ppech

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pech" for "peu" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɛç] versus [pɛw]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pech" vs "peu" - which ranks higher?
"Pech" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,547 in our German list, against #40,134 for "peu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pech" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "peu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,378,262 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pech" and "peu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peu vs PMS". 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 #1,378,262 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