PfadevsPfanneTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,125
“Pfade” frequency rank
#10,542
“Pfanne” frequency rank
36667
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pfade Pfanne
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Pfad flaches Gefäß zum Braten auf dem Herd.

Where the eye mixes Pfade and Pfanne

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. Pfade runs 5 letters (CCVCV) against Pfanne's 6 (CCVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
Pfade
6 ch
Pfanne

Why the eye confuses Pfade with Pfanne

A purely visual mix-up. Pfade ([ˈp͡faːdə]) and Pfanne ([ˈp͡fanə]) 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 36667, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pfade is recorded at frequency rank #26,125, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡faːdə]. Pfanne is at rank #10,542, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈp͡fanə].

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 36667, this pair ranks #1,609,734 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pfade vs Pfanne

Shared letters: aefp. Private to "Pfade": d. Private to "Pfanne": n.

"Pfade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "Pfanne" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pfade ← fpade · pafde · pfadde · pfaed · pfdae · pffade · ppfade
  • Pfanne ← fpanne · pafnne · pfane · pfanen · pffanne · pfnane · ppfanne

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pfade" for "Pfanne" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈp͡faːdə] versus [ˈp͡fanə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Pfade" or "Pfanne" show up more?
"Pfanne" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,542 in our German list, against #26,125 for "Pfade". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfanne" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,609,734 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pfade" and "Pfanne" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "padre vs Pfade". 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 #1,609,734 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