piesvspikaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pies” and “pika” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#13,397
“pies” frequency rank
#48,970
“pika” frequency rank
62367
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pies pika
Definition plural of pie Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and Asia.

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
pies
4 ch
pika

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pies (/paɪz/) and pika (/ˈpiːkə/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 62367, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pies is recorded at frequency rank #13,397, classified as anoun, pronounced /paɪz/. pika is at rank #48,970, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpiːkə/.

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 62367, this pair ranks #88,893 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pies vs pika

Shared letters: ip. Private to "pies": es. Private to "pika": ak.

"pies" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "pika" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • piesipes · peis · piess · pise
  • pikaipka · piak · pikka · pkia · ppika

Frequency comparison

pies#13,397
pika#48,970

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pies" and "pika" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/paɪz/ versus /ˈpiːkə/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pies" or "pika"?
"pies" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,397 in our English list, against #48,970 for "pika". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pies vs pika

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pies” 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