PencevspennenWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#29,731
“Pence” frequency rank
#27,444
“pennen” frequency rank
57175
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pence pennen
Definition Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Penny schlafen

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set Pence and pennen apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
Pence
6 ch
pennen

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Pence is [ˈpɛns] while pennen is [ˈpɛnən]. 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 57175, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pence is recorded at frequency rank #29,731, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɛns]. pennen is at rank #27,444, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɛnən].

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 57175, this pair ranks #911,578 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pence vs pennen

Shared letters: enp. Private to "Pence": c. Private to "pennen": -.

"Pence" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pennen" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Penceepnce · pecne · pencce · penec · pennce · pnece · ppence
  • pennenepnnen · penen · penenn · pennenn · pennne · pnenen · ppennen

Frequency comparison

Pence#29,731
pennen#27,444

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Pence" and "pennen" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Pence" is a noun and "pennen" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "Pence" or "pennen"?
"pennen" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #27,444 in our German list, against #29,731 for "Pence". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering Pence vs pennen

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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