Which to use
“parting” is a noun and “petting” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,918
- “parting” frequency rank
- #27,244
- “petting” frequency rank
- 45162
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parting | petting |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | The act of parting or dividing; division; separation. | present participle and gerund of pet |
Where the eye mixes parting and petting
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: parting is /ˈpɑɹtɪŋ/ while petting is /ˈpɛtɪŋ/. 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 (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45162, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parting is recorded at frequency rank #17,918, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑɹtɪŋ/. petting is at rank #27,244, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpɛtɪŋ/.
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 45162, this pair ranks #223,824 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of parting vs petting
Shared letters: ginpt. Private to "parting": ar. Private to "petting": e.
"parting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC · "petting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC