English homophones
ping/png
"ping" (#10,255 written frequency) beats "png" (#18,161) in this 2-word /pɪŋ/ cluster. Size rank #133 of 1,007 English groups.
Data vintage
Frequency splits the cluster
These 2 spellings keep the same /pɪŋ/ reading, but written frequency splits them hard: "ping" leads at #10,255, with "png" trailing at #18,161.
Spelling pairs in this cluster
- No shared spelling stem: "ping" is 4 letters, "png" is 3; only the sound ties them.
Orthographic DNA of this cluster
Shared letters across ping, png: gnp. Private letters are the ones only one spelling owns: the eye's fastest tell once sound is out of the picture.
ping
4 letters · 1 vowels · shape CVCC
Inventory ginp · private i
png
3 letters · 0 vowels · shape CCC
Inventory gnp · no private letters vs siblings
Pick the spelling from the meaning
- Write "ping" when you mean: A high-pitched, short and somewhat sharp sound.
- Write "png" when you mean: Alternative letter-case form of PNG; Portable Network Graphics, an open protocol for digital images.
Known mistypes of these spellings
Edit-distance variants recorded against this cluster: useful when a search or OCR feed lands on the wrong form.
- ping ← ipng · pign · pingg · pinng · pnig · pping
Each spelling
Nearby English homophone groups
What to do next
You've reviewed the 2-spelling cluster (ping, png). Here's where to go from here.
- "ping" is the most frequent headword in this 2-spelling cluster (rank #10,255 in English). Full entry
- Among English homophone groups, a cluster of 2 spellings ranks #133 by size (1,007 groups in this vintage). Corpus statistics
- Explore a nearby 2-spelling cluster: porn · pawn. Nearby cluster
- Each spelling in "ping, png" has its own headword page with definition, IPA, and misspelling variants. First entry
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.