pesvspieConfusable pair

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

Which to use

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

#43,402
“pes” frequency rank
#24,870
“pie” frequency rank
68272
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pes pie
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pesen ein herzhaftes oder würziges Gebäck, wie beispielsweise eine Pastete

Where the eye mixes pes and pie

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

3 ch
pes
3 ch
pie

Look-alike desk: pes vs pie

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pes is [peːs] while pie is [paɪ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 68272, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pes is recorded at frequency rank #43,402, classified as averb, pronounced [peːs]. pie is at rank #24,870, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paɪ].

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 68272, this pair ranks #513,132 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pes vs pie

Shared letters: ep. Private to "pes": s. Private to "pie": i.

"pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pie" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pes" for "pie" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pes" is a verb and "pie" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "pes" vs "pie" - which ranks higher?
"pie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #24,870 in our German list, against #43,402 for "pes". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pes" and "pie" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pie" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #513,132 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pes" and "pie" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pes vs PMS". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #513,132 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