Which to use
“pater” and “pattern” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #38,474
- “pater” frequency rank
- #39,446
- “pattern” frequency rank
- 77920
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pater | pattern |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Prière du Notre Père. | Motif graphique reproductible. |
Where the eye mixes pater and pattern
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pater vs pattern
A purely visual mix-up. pater (\pa.tɛʁ\) and pattern (\pa.tɛʁn\) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 77920, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pater is recorded at frequency rank #38,474, classified as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛʁ\. pattern is at rank #39,446, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pa.tɛʁn\.
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 77920, this pair ranks #27,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pater vs pattern
Shared letters: aeprt. Private to "pater": -. Private to "pattern": n.
"pater" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pattern" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pater" and "pattern" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "pater" or "pattern"?
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 "pater" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pattern" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,091 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pater" and "pattern" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pater vs pètes". 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 #27,091 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.