PechvspochtWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: Pech is a noun, pocht is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Pech” is a noun and “pocht” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,547
“Pech” frequency rank
#36,554
“pocht” frequency rank
41101
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pech pocht
Definition Rückstand bei der Teerherstellung 2. Person Plural Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pochen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pech and pocht apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
Pech
5 ch
pocht

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pech is [pɛç] while pocht is [pɔxt]. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41101, 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]. pocht is at rank #36,554, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɔxt].

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 41101, this pair ranks #1,489,327 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pech vs pocht

Shared letters: chp. Private to "Pech": e. Private to "pocht": ot.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pechepch · pceh · pecch · pechh · pehc · ppech
  • pochtopcht · pcoht · poccht · pochht · pochtt · pocth · pohct · ppocht

Frequency comparison

Pech#4,547
pocht#36,554

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pech" and "pocht" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pech" is a noun and "pocht" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Pech" or "pocht"?
"Pech" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,547 in our German list, against #36,554 for "pocht". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Pech vs pocht

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “Pech”; for a verb, it's “pocht”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “Pech” 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