Which to use
“PCT” is a name and “per” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #23,938
- “PCT” frequency rank
- #339
- “per” frequency rank
- 24277
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | PCT | per |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Initialism of Patent Cooperation Treaty. | For each. |
Letter map: PCT vs per
Shared letters muted; letters that set PCT and per apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for PCT / per
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: PCT is aname and perapreposition. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24277, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
PCT is recorded at frequency rank #23,938, classified as aname. per is at rank #339, tagged as aprep, pronounced /pɜː/.
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 24277, this pair ranks #403,153 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of PCT vs per
Shared letters: p. Private to "PCT": ct. Private to "per": er.
"PCT" · 3 letters · shape CCC · "per" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "PCT" and "per" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "PCT" vs "per" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
You've compared "PCT" and "per". Here's where to go from here.
- Full dictionary entry for "PCT" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "per" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #403,153 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "PCT" and "per" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "PCT vs PPA". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #403,153 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.