PfadevsplateTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,125
“Pfade” frequency rank
#32,211
“plate” frequency rank
58336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pfade plate
Definition Variante für den Dativ Singular des Substantivs Pfad Teller

Where the eye mixes Pfade and plate

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
Pfade
5 ch
plate

Look-alike desk: Pfade vs plate

A purely visual mix-up. Pfade ([ˈp͡faːdə]) and plate ([pleɪt]) 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 58336, 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]. plate is at rank #32,211, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pleɪt].

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 58336, this pair ranks #866,721 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pfade vs plate

Shared letters: aep. Private to "Pfade": df. Private to "plate": lt.

"Pfade" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "plate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pfadefpade · pafde · pfadde · pfaed · pfdae · pffade · ppfade
  • platelpate · palte · plaet · pllate · pltae · pplate

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pfade" for "plate" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈp͡faːdə] versus [pleɪt]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pfade" vs "plate" - which ranks higher?
"Pfade" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,125 in our German list, against #32,211 for "plate". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pfade" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "plate" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #866,721 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pfade" and "plate" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "plants vs plate". 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 #866,721 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