PechvspitchWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#4,547
“Pech” frequency rank
#29,282
“pitch” frequency rank
33829
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pech pitch
Definition Rückstand bei der Teerherstellung Pitch

Where the eye mixes Pech and pitch

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Pech
5 ch
pitch

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. Pech ([pɛç]) and pitch ([pitʃ]) 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 33829, 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]. pitch is at rank #29,282, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pitʃ].

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 33829, this pair ranks #1,677,166 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pech vs pitch

Shared letters: chp. Private to "Pech": e. Private to "pitch": it.

"Pech" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pitch" · 5 letters · shape CVCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pechepch · pceh · pecch · pechh · pehc · ppech
  • pitchiptch · picth · pitcch · pitchh · pithc · pittch · ppitch · ptich

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pech" and "pitch" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɛç] versus [pitʃ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "Pech" or "pitch"?
"Pech" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,547 in our German list, against #29,282 for "pitch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "Pech" and "pitch". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pech" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pitch" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,677,166 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pech" and "pitch" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peach vs pitch". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list