persvsponsWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#36,278
“pers” frequency rank
#45,594
“pons” frequency rank
81872
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pers pons
Definition That which belongs to per, theirs (singular): possessive case of per, used in place of a noun. A bridge-like tissue connecting two parts of an organ.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pers and pons apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pers
4 ch
pons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pers is apronoun and ponsanoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 81872, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pers is recorded at frequency rank #36,278, classified as apron. pons is at rank #45,594, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑnz/.

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 81872, this pair ranks #16,809 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pers vs pons

Shared letters: ps. Private to "pers": er. Private to "pons": no.

"pers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pons" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perseprs · perrs · pesr · ppers
  • ponsopns · pnos · ponns · ponss · posn · ppons

Frequency comparison

pers#36,278
pons#45,594

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pers" and "pons" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pers" is a pronoun and "pons" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pers" or "pons"?
"pers" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #36,278 in our English list, against #45,594 for "pons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pers vs pons

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 “pons”.
  • 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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list