pesvspissConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#43,402
“pes” frequency rank
#37,133
“piss” frequency rank
80535
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pes piss
Definition 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pesen 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs pissen

Where the eye mixes pes and piss

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pes runs 3 letters (CVC) against piss's 4 (CVCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

3 ch
pes
4 ch
piss

Why the eye confuses pes with piss

A purely visual mix-up. pes ([peːs]) and piss ([pɪs]) 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 80535, 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]. piss is at rank #37,133, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɪs].

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 80535, this pair ranks #193,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pes vs piss

Shared letters: ps. Private to "pes": e. Private to "piss": i.

"pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "piss" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • piss ← ipss · piß · ppiss · psis

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pes" and "piss" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([peːs] versus [pɪs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pes" or "piss"?
"piss" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,133 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.

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 "pes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "piss" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #193,637 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pes" and "piss" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pes vs PMS". 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 #193,637 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