people

[piːpl]

/[piːpl]/ noun

The verdict

“people” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #7,091 in German word frequency and used as a noun.

#7,091
frequency rank, German
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - das Volk

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

people vs Pole
50% similar
people vs pepe
67% similar
people vs Pope
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for people
PropertyValue
Headwordpeople
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[piːpl]
Letters6
Frequency rank#7,091
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “people” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). people lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for people is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [piːpl]. Corpus data places it at rank #7,091 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for people, with forms such as "epople", "peolpe", and "peopel". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Pole", "pepe", "Pope", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is people, spelled P-E-O-P-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    das Volk
  2. 2
    die Leute, die Menschen

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: epople,peolpe,peopel,peoplle,peopple,pepole,poeple,ppeople

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of people - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

epople2peolpe2peopel2peoplle1peopple1pepole2poeple2ppeople1
Edit distance from "people"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "people"?
"people" is spelled P-E-O-P-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is [piːpl].
What does "people" mean?
As a noun, "people" means: das Volk
What words are commonly confused with "people"?
"people" is commonly confused with "Pole", "pepe", "Pope". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "people"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "people" is [piːpl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "people" come from?
"people" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “people”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is P-E-O-P-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [piːpl] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Pole” - see the side-by-side comparison. people vs Pole
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list