Which to use
“pardon” and “patron” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,789
- “pardon” frequency rank
- #1,710
- “patron” frequency rank
- 4499
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pardon | patron |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de pardonner une faute, une offense. | Patricien ou riche plébéien de la Rome antique, qui accordait sa protection à des citoyens plus pauvres constituant sa clientèle. |
Where the eye mixes pardon and patron
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pardon vs patron
A purely visual mix-up. pardon (\paʁ.dɔ̃\) and patron (\pa.tʁɔ̃\) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4499, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pardon is recorded at frequency rank #2,789, classified as anoun, pronounced \paʁ.dɔ̃\. patron is at rank #1,710, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tʁɔ̃\.
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 4499, this pair ranks #431,448 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pardon vs patron
Shared letters: anopr. Private to "pardon": d. Private to "patron": t.
"pardon" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "patron" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pardon" and "patron" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "pardon" vs "patron" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pardon" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "patron" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #431,448 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pardon" and "patron" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pardo vs pardon". 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 #431,448 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.