patvspHTell them apart

Which to use

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

#10,372
“pat” frequency rank
#10,377
“pH” frequency rank
20749
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pat pH
Definition Situation où un des deux joueurs, qui n’a pas son roi en échec et qui a le trait, ne peut pas jouer sans mettre le roi en prise, et qui constitue un des cas de nullité de la partie. Opposé du logarithme décimal de la concentration en ions hydroniums d’une solution aqueuse. Échelle de mesure de l’acidité d’une solution. ( pH = -log₁₀ [H⁺])

Where the eye mixes pat and pH

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

3 ch
pat
2 ch
pH

Visual trap between pat and pH

A purely visual mix-up. pat (\pat\) and pH (\pe.aʃ\) 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 20749, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pat is recorded at frequency rank #10,372, classified as anoun, pronounced \pat\. pH is at rank #10,377, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pe.aʃ\.

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 20749, this pair ranks #366,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pat vs pH

Shared letters: p. Private to "pat": at. Private to "pH": h.

"pat" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pH" · 2 letters · shape CC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pat" for "pH" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (\pat\ versus \pe.aʃ\) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary French text, does "pat" or "pH" show up more?
"pat" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,372 in our French list, against #10,377 for "pH". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "pat" and "pH" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pH" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #366,693 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pat" and "pH" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pH vs pio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #366,693 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