parsevspeaseWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: parse is a verb, pease is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“parse” is a verb and “pease” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,782
“parse” frequency rank
#37,149
“pease” frequency rank
66931
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parse pease
Definition To resolve (a sentence, etc.) into its elements, pointing out the several parts of speech, and their relation to each other by agreement or government; to analyze and describe grammatically. Alternative form of pea (“common plant; its edible seed”).

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set parse and pease apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
parse
5 ch
pease

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: parse is /pɑːz/ while pease is /piːz/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66931, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parse is recorded at frequency rank #29,782, classified as averb, pronounced /pɑːz/. pease is at rank #37,149, tagged as anoun, pronounced /piːz/.

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 66931, this pair ranks #65,717 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of parse vs pease

Shared letters: aeps. Private to "parse": r. Private to "pease": -.

"parse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pease" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parseaprse · pares · parrse · parsse · pasre · pparse · prase
  • peaseepase · paese · peaes · peasse · pesae · ppease

Frequency comparison

parse#29,782
pease#37,149

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "parse" and "pease" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "parse" is a verb and "pease" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "parse" or "pease"?
"parse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,782 in our English list, against #37,149 for "pease". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering parse vs pease

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “parse”; for a noun, it's “pease”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “parse” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list