Which to use
“picked” and “pitched” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,956
- “picked” frequency rank
- #9,080
- “pitched” frequency rank
- 11036
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | picked | pitched |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | simple past and past participle of pick | simple past and past participle of pitch |
Where the eye mixes picked and pitched
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: picked vs pitched
A purely visual mix-up. picked (/pɪkt/) and pitched (/pɪt͡ʃt/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11036, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
picked is recorded at frequency rank #1,956, classified as averb, pronounced /pɪkt/. pitched is at rank #9,080, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɪt͡ʃt/.
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 11036, this pair ranks #489,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of picked vs pitched
Shared letters: cdeip. Private to "picked": k. Private to "pitched": ht.
"picked" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pitched" · 7 letters · shape CVCCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "picked" and "pitched" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "picked" vs "pitched" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "picked" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pitched" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #489,222 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "picked" and "pitched" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peeked vs picked". 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 #489,222 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.