# pining vs pointing

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### pining
*verb · IPA /ˈpaɪnɪŋ/ · frequency rank #39,480*
present participle and gerund of pine

### pointing
*noun · IPA /ˈpɔɪntɪŋ/ · frequency rank #5,152*
The action of the verb to point.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/pining-vs-pointing