P4vspanTell them apart

Which to use

“P4” and “pan” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#46,332
“P4” frequency rank
#6,726
“pan” frequency rank
53058
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature P4 pan
Definition Réformé pour problèmes psychiques. Partie plane et plus ou moins large d’un mur.

Where the eye mixes P4 and pan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
P4
3 ch
pan

Visual trap between P4 and pan

A purely visual mix-up. P4 (\pe.katʁ\) and pan (\pɑ̃\) 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 53058, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

P4 is recorded at frequency rank #46,332, classified as anoun, pronounced \pe.katʁ\. pan is at rank #6,726, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɑ̃\.

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 53058, this pair ranks #143,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of P4 vs pan

Shared letters: p. Private to "P4": -. Private to "pan": an.

"P4" · 1 letters · shape C  ·  "pan" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "P4" for "pan" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pe.katʁ\ versus \pɑ̃\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "P4" or "pan"?
"pan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,726 in our French list, against #46,332 for "P4". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "P4" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #143,397 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "P4" and "pan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "P4 vs pio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #143,397 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list