Which to use
“pardons” and “persons” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #32,113
- “pardons” frequency rank
- #3,443
- “persons” frequency rank
- 35556
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pardons | persons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural of pardon | plural of person, used to refer to them individually, rather than as a group; contrast people |
Where the eye mixes pardons and persons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pardons with persons
A purely visual mix-up. pardons (/ˈpɑɹ.dənz/) and persons (/ˈpɜː.sənz/) 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 35556, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pardons is recorded at frequency rank #32,113, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑɹ.dənz/. persons is at rank #3,443, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɜː.sənz/.
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 35556, this pair ranks #310,953 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pardons vs persons
Shared letters: noprs. Private to "pardons": ad. Private to "persons": e.
"pardons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "persons" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pardons" for "persons" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pardons" or "persons"?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pardons" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #310,953 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pardons" and "persons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pardons vs parson". 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 #310,953 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.