pathvsplateWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#36,731
“path” frequency rank
#19,530
“plate” frequency rank
56261
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature path plate
Definition Camino, sendero, vereda. Plato.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set path and plate apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
path
5 ch
plate

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. path (/pɑːθ/) and plate (/pleɪt/) 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 56261, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

path is recorded at frequency rank #36,731, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɑːθ/. plate is at rank #19,530, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pleɪt/.

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 56261, this pair ranks #75,347 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of path vs plate

Shared letters: apt. Private to "path": h. Private to "plate": el.

"path" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "plate" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pathapth · paht · pathh · patth · ppath · ptah
  • platelpate · palte · plaet · platte · pllate · pltae · pplate

Frequency comparison

path#36,731
plate#19,530

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "path" and "plate" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɑːθ/ versus /pleɪt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "path" or "plate"?
"plate" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,530 in our Spanish list, against #36,731 for "path". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering path vs plate

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 “path” 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