PechvsPoCWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#4,547
“Pech” frequency rank
#49,161
“PoC” frequency rank
53708
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pech PoC
Definition Rückstand bei der Teerherstellung Person of Color

Where the eye mixes Pech and PoC

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

4 ch
Pech
3 ch
PoC

Visual trap between Pech and PoC

A purely visual mix-up. Pech ([pɛç]) and PoC ([piːʔɔʊ̯ˈsiː]) 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 53708, 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]. PoC is at rank #49,161, tagged as anoun, pronounced [piːʔɔʊ̯ˈsiː].

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 53708, this pair ranks #1,047,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pech vs PoC

Shared letters: cp. Private to "Pech": eh. Private to "PoC": o.

"Pech" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "PoC" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "Pech" and "PoC" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɛç] versus [piːʔɔʊ̯ˈsiː]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pech" vs "PoC" - which ranks higher?
"Pech" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,547 in our German list, against #49,161 for "PoC". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pech" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "PoC" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,047,462 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pech" and "PoC" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PMS vs PoC". 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 #1,047,462 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