PikvsPosTell them apart

Which to use

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

#42,047
“Pik” frequency rank
#23,268
“Pos” frequency rank
65315
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pik Pos
Definition Farbe im französischen Kartenblatt mit einem schwarzen Lindenblatt als Symbol Nominativ Plural des Substantivs Po

Where the eye mixes Pik and Pos

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
Pik
3 ch
Pos

Visual trap between Pik and Pos

A purely visual mix-up. Pik ([piːk]) and Pos ([poːs]) 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 65315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pik is recorded at frequency rank #42,047, classified as anoun, pronounced [piːk]. Pos is at rank #23,268, tagged as anoun, pronounced [poːs].

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 65315, this pair ranks #611,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Pik vs Pos

Shared letters: p. Private to "Pik": ik. Private to "Pos": os.

"Pik" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Pos" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pik" for "Pos" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([piːk] versus [poːs]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pik" vs "Pos" - which ranks higher?
"Pos" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,268 in our German list, against #42,047 for "Pik". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pik" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pos" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #611,179 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pik" and "Pos" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pik vs PMS". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #611,179 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