Which to use
“pers” is a pronoun and “pus” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #36,278
- “pers” frequency rank
- #28,336
- “pus” frequency rank
- 64614
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pers | pus |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | That which belongs to per, theirs (singular): possessive case of per, used in place of a noun. | A whitish-yellow or yellow substance composed primarily of dead white blood cells and dead pyogenic bacteria, normally found in regions of bacterial infection. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pers and pus apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
pers and pus form a confusable pair in the English index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pers is recorded at frequency rank #36,278, classified as apron. pus is at rank #28,336, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pʌs/.
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 64614, this pair ranks #76,826 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pers" and "pus" be used interchangeably?
Remembering pers vs pus
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 “pus”.
- 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