pecsvspersWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pecs is a noun, pers is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pecs” is a noun and “pers” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#49,538
“pecs” frequency rank
#36,278
“pers” frequency rank
85816
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pecs pers
Definition plural of pec That which belongs to per, theirs (singular): possessive case of per, used in place of a noun.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pecs and pers apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pecs
4 ch
pers

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pecs is anoun and persapronoun. On the page they differ by a single letter - c in “pecs” becomes r in “pers”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85816, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pecs is recorded at frequency rank #49,538, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɛks/. pers is at rank #36,278, tagged as apron.

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 85816, this pair ranks #9,820 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pecs vs pers

Shared letters: eps. Private to "pecs": c. Private to "pers": r.

"pecs" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pecsepcs · pces · peccs · pecss · pesc · ppecs
  • perseprs · perrs · pesr · ppers

Frequency comparison

pecs#49,538
pers#36,278

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pecs" and "pers" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pecs" is a noun and "pers" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pecs" or "pers"?
"pers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,278 in our English list, against #49,538 for "pecs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pecs vs pers

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pecs”; for a pronoun, it's “pers”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pecs” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list