Which to use
“pers” is a pronoun and “pry” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,278
- “pers” frequency rank
- #26,212
- “pry” frequency rank
- 62490
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pers | pry |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That which belongs to per, theirs (singular): possessive case of per, used in place of a noun. | To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public. |
Letter map: pers vs pry
Shared letters muted; letters that set pers and pry apart highlighted. Shared run: 2.
Grammar separator: pers vs pry
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pers is apronoun and pryaverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62490, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pers is recorded at frequency rank #36,278, classified as apron. pry is at rank #26,212, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹaɪ/.
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 62490, this pair ranks #88,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pers vs pry
Shared letters: pr. Private to "pers": es. Private to "pry": y.
"pers" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pry" · 3 letters · shape CCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pers ← eprs · perrs · pesr · ppers
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pers" and "pry" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pers" or "pry"?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "pers" and "pry".
- Full dictionary entry for "pers" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pry" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #88,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pers" and "pry" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pecs vs pers". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #88,222 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.