PillevsPilsWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#9,606
“Pille” frequency rank
#27,448
“Pils” frequency rank
37054
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Pille Pils
Definition Arzneimittel, Nahrungsergänzungsmittel oder anderes Mittel, welches zur bequemen, Einnahme über den Mund kugelförmig oder oval geformt ist kurz für „Bier nach Pilsener Brauart“, ein untergäriges Bier mit erhöhtem Hopfengehalt

Where the eye mixes Pille and Pils

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

5 ch
Pille
4 ch
Pils

Why the eye confuses Pille with Pils

A purely visual mix-up. Pille ([ˈpɪlə]) and Pils ([pɪls]) 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 37054, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Pille is recorded at frequency rank #9,606, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɪlə]. Pils is at rank #27,448, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pɪls].

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 37054, this pair ranks #1,599,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Pille vs Pils

Shared letters: ilp. Private to "Pille": e. Private to "Pils": s.

"Pille" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "Pils" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Pilleiplle · pile · pilel · plile · ppille
  • Pilsipls · pills · pilss · pisl · plis · ppils

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Pille" for "Pils" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɪlə] versus [pɪls]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "Pille" vs "Pils" - which ranks higher?
"Pille" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,606 in our German list, against #27,448 for "Pils". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "Pille" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Pils" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,599,976 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Pille" and "Pils" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pils vs PMS". 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 #1,599,976 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