Which to use
“patched” is an adjective and “pitched” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #22,763
- “patched” frequency rank
- #9,080
- “pitched” frequency rank
- 31843
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patched | pitched |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Having been repaired with a patch or patches. | simple past and past participle of pitch |
Where the eye mixes patched and pitched
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. patched and pitched follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between patched and pitched
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: patched is /pæt͡ʃt/ while pitched is /pɪt͡ʃt/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “patched” becomes i in “pitched”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31843, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patched is recorded at frequency rank #22,763, classified as anadj, pronounced /pæt͡ʃt/. pitched is at rank #9,080, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɪt͡ʃt/.
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 31843, this pair ranks #342,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patched vs pitched
Shared letters: cdehpt. Private to "patched": a. Private to "pitched": i.
"patched" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC · "pitched" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "patched" for "pitched" ever safe?
Which is more common, "patched" or "pitched"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patched" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pitched" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #342,764 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patched" and "pitched" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patched vs patted". 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 #342,764 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.