Which to use
“pick” is a verb and “pine” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,895
- “pick” frequency rank
- #38,336
- “pine” frequency rank
- 53231
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pick | pine |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | 2. Person Singular Imperativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs picken | Nadelbaum der Gattung Pinus (zum Beispiel Pinus sylvestris, Kiefer oder Föhre) |
Where the eye mixes pick and pine
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pick and pine
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pick is [pɪk] while pine is [paɪn]. 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 53231, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pick is recorded at frequency rank #14,895, classified as averb, pronounced [pɪk]. pine is at rank #38,336, tagged as anoun, pronounced [paɪn].
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 53231, this pair ranks #1,066,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pick vs pine
Shared letters: ip. Private to "pick": ck. Private to "pine": en.
"pick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pine" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pick" for "pine" ever safe?
In ordinary German text, does "pick" or "pine" show up more?
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 "pick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,066,073 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pick" and "pine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pig vs pine". 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 #1,066,073 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.