Which to use
“pick” is a verb and “pin” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,833
- “pick” frequency rank
- #9,054
- “pin” frequency rank
- 21887
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pick | pin |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Deuxième personne du singulier de l’impératif présent de picken. | Grand arbre du genre Pinus, conifères résineux, monoïques, à aiguilles persistantes longues, minces, pointues et groupées en faisceaux par 2, 3 ou 5, aux cônes mâles ressemblant à des chatons et aux cônes femelles d’abord dressés puis se courbant ou bien pendants. |
Where the eye mixes pick and pin
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pick and pin
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pick is \pɪk\ while pin is \pɛ̃\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21887, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pick is recorded at frequency rank #12,833, classified as averb, pronounced \pɪk\. pin is at rank #9,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced \pɛ̃\.
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 21887, this pair ranks #360,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pick vs pin
Shared letters: ip. Private to "pick": ck. Private to "pin": n.
"pick" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "pin" · 3 letters · shape CVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- pick ← ipck · pcik · picck · pickk · pikc · ppick
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pick" for "pin" ever safe?
In ordinary French text, does "pick" or "pin" show up more?
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 "pick" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pin" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #360,920 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pick" and "pin" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pick 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 #360,920 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.