pacevsplaceWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pace” and “place” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#35,175
“pace” frequency rank
#12,025
“place” frequency rank
47200
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pace place
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pacer. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de placer.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pace and place apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pace
5 ch
place

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pace ([ˈpase]) and place ([ˈplase]) 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 47200, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pace is recorded at frequency rank #35,175, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpase]. place is at rank #12,025, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈplase].

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 47200, this pair ranks #121,396 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pace vs place

Shared letters: acep. Private to "pace": -. Private to "place": l.

"pace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "place" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paceapce · pacce · paec · pcae · ppace
  • placelpace · palce · placce · plaec · plase · plcae · pllace · pplace

Frequency comparison

pace#35,175
place#12,025

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pace" and "place" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpase] versus [ˈplase]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pace" or "place"?
"place" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,025 in our Spanish list, against #35,175 for "pace". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pace vs place

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 “pace” 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