peuvspigWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#40,134
“peu” frequency rank
#48,384
“pig” frequency rank
88518
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peu pig
Definition der Fuß; der unterste Abschnitt der Beine der Wirbeltiere, bei den Primaten und dem Menschen nur der beiden hinteren/unteren Extremitäten Schwein

Where the eye mixes peu and pig

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. peu (CVV) and pig (CVC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
peu
3 ch
pig

Why the eye confuses peu with pig

A purely visual mix-up. peu ([pɛw]) and pig ([pɪɡ]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 88518, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peu is recorded at frequency rank #40,134, classified as anoun, pronounced [pɛw]. pig is at rank #48,384, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɪɡ].

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 88518, this pair ranks #67,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of peu vs pig

Shared letters: p. Private to "peu": eu. Private to "pig": gi.

"peu" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "pig" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "peu" and "pig" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɛw] versus [pɪɡ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "peu" or "pig" show up more?
"peu" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #40,134 in our German list, against #48,384 for "pig". 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 "peu" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pig" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,477 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "peu" and "pig" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pig vs PMS". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #67,477 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