pittingvspuntingWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pitting is a noun, punting is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pitting” is a noun and “punting” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#29,038
“pitting” frequency rank
#42,354
“punting” frequency rank
71392
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pitting punting
Definition The formation of pits on a surface because of corrosion. present participle and gerund of punt

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pitting and punting apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
pitting
7 ch
punting

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pitting is anoun and puntingaverb. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 71392, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pitting is recorded at frequency rank #29,038, classified as anoun. punting is at rank #42,354, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈpʌntɪŋ/.

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 71392, this pair ranks #46,932 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pitting vs punting

Shared letters: ginpt. Private to "pitting": -. Private to "punting": u.

"pitting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC  ·  "punting" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pittingiptting · piting · pititng · pittign · pittingg · pittinng · pittnig · ppitting
  • puntingpnuting · ppunting · punitng · punnting · puntign · puntingg · puntinng · puntnig

Frequency comparison

pitting#29,038
punting#42,354

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pitting" and "punting" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pitting" is a noun and "punting" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pitting" or "punting"?
"pitting" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #29,038 in our English list, against #42,354 for "punting". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pitting vs punting

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pitting”; for a verb, it's “punting”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pitting” 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