Which to use
“paco” and “pan” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #24,315
- “paco” frequency rank
- #6,726
- “pan” frequency rank
- 31041
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | paco | pan |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Minerai d’argent contenant beaucoup de fer. | Partie plane et plus ou moins large d’un mur. |
Where the eye mixes paco and pan
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: paco vs pan
A purely visual mix-up. paco (\pa.ko\) 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 31041, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
paco is recorded at frequency rank #24,315, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.ko\. 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 31041, this pair ranks #306,366 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of paco vs pan
Shared letters: ap. Private to "paco": co. Private to "pan": n.
"paco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "pan" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- paco ← apco · pacco · paoc · pcao · ppaco
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "paco" for "pan" ever safe?
Frequency check: "paco" vs "pan" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "paco" 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 #306,366 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "paco" and "pan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paco vs pio". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #306,366 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.