Which to use
“pit” and “po” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,548
- “pit” frequency rank
- #7,482
- “po” frequency rank
- 12030
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pit | po |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | A hole in the ground. | A peacock. |
Where the eye mixes pit and po
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pit with po
A purely visual mix-up. pit (/pɪt/) and po (/pəʊ/) 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 12030, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pit is recorded at frequency rank #4,548, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɪt/. po is at rank #7,482, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pəʊ/.
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 12030, this pair ranks #483,818 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pit vs po
Shared letters: p. Private to "pit": it. Private to "po": o.
"pit" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "po" · 2 letters · shape CV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pit" for "po" ever safe?
In ordinary English text, does "pit" or "po" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pit" and "po" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pit" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "po" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #483,818 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pit" and "po" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "po vs PPA". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #483,818 of 530,003 scored English pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.