Which to use
“pea” is a noun and “per” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,184
- “pea” frequency rank
- #339
- “per” frequency rank
- 14523
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pea | per |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Any of certain plants of the family Fabaceae: Pisum sativum and others. | For each. |
Where the eye mixes pea and per
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pea with per
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pea is /piː/ while per is /pɜː/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “pea” becomes r in “per”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14523, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pea is recorded at frequency rank #14,184, classified as anoun, pronounced /piː/. 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 14523, this pair ranks #469,514 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pea vs per
Shared letters: ep. Private to "pea": a. Private to "per": r.
"pea" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "per" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pea" and "per" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary English text, does "pea" or "per" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pea" 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 #469,514 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pea" and "per" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pea vs PPA". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #469,514 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.