Which to use
“patter” and “pattern” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,547
- “patter” frequency rank
- #2,691
- “pattern” frequency rank
- 41238
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patter | pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface. | Model, example. |
Where the eye mixes patter and pattern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. patter (/ˈpæt.ə/) and pattern (/ˈpæ̞t(ə)n/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “patter” sits inside “pattern”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41238, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patter is recorded at frequency rank #38,547, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæt.ə/. pattern is at rank #2,691, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpæ̞t(ə)n/.
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 41238, this pair ranks #260,311 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patter vs pattern
Shared letters: aeprt. Private to "patter": -. Private to "pattern": n.
"patter" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pattern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "patter" and "pattern" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "patter" or "pattern"?
What to do next
You've compared "patter" and "pattern". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "patter" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pattern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #260,311 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patter" and "pattern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patter vs pester". 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
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.