pervsPPAWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: per is a preposition, PPA is a name, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“per” is a preposition and “PPA” is a name - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#339
“per” frequency rank
#49,565
“PPA” frequency rank
49904
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature per PPA
Definition For each. Initialism of Philippine Ports Authority

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set per and PPA apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
per
3 ch
PPA

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: per is apreposition and PPAaname. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49904, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

per is recorded at frequency rank #339, classified as aprep, pronounced /pɜː/. PPA is at rank #49,565, tagged as aname.

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 49904, this pair ranks #179,203 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of per vs PPA

Shared letters: p. Private to "per": er. Private to "PPA": a.

"per" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "PPA" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequency comparison

per#339
PPA#49,565

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "per" and "PPA" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "per" is a preposition and "PPA" a name, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "per" or "PPA"?
"per" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #339 in our English list, against #49,565 for "PPA". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering per vs PPA

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a preposition, it's “per”; for a name, it's “PPA”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “per” 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