Which to use
“partly” is an adverb and “pasty” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,318
- “partly” frequency rank
- #33,783
- “pasty” frequency rank
- 38101
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | partly | pasty |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | In part, or to some degree, but not completely. | Like paste, sticky. |
Where the eye mixes partly and pasty
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. partly runs 6 letters (CVCCCV) against pasty's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between partly and pasty
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: partly is /ˈpɑɹtli/ while pasty is /ˈpeɪsti/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
partly is recorded at frequency rank #4,318, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈpɑɹtli/. pasty is at rank #33,783, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpeɪsti/.
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 38101, this pair ranks #288,818 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of partly vs pasty
Shared letters: apty. Private to "partly": lr. Private to "pasty": s.
"partly" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV · "pasty" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "partly" for "pasty" ever safe?
Frequency check: "partly" vs "pasty" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "partly" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pasty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #288,818 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "partly" and "pasty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pappy vs pasty". 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 #288,818 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.