Which to use
“pers” is a pronoun and “petri” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,278
- “pers” frequency rank
- #29,786
- “petri” frequency rank
- 66064
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pers | petri |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That which belongs to per, theirs (singular): possessive case of per, used in place of a noun. | Ellipsis of petri dish. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pers and petri apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pers is apronoun and petrianoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 66064, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pers is recorded at frequency rank #36,278, classified as apron. petri is at rank #29,786, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpiːtɹi/.
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 66064, this pair ranks #69,795 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pers vs petri
Shared letters: epr. Private to "pers": s. Private to "petri": it.
"pers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "petri" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pers" and "petri" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pers" or "petri"?
Remembering pers vs petri
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “pers”; for a noun, it's “petri”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pers” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable