peckvspicaWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: peck is a noun, pica is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“peck” is a noun and “pica” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#31,091
“peck” frequency rank
#7,962
“pica” frequency rank
39053
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature peck pica
Definition bicada excelente, de grande qualidade

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set peck and pica apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
peck
4 ch
pica

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: peck is /pɛk/ while pica is /ˈpi.kɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 39053, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peck is recorded at frequency rank #31,091, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɛk/. pica is at rank #7,962, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpi.kɐ/.

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 39053, this pair ranks #27,298 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of peck vs pica

Shared letters: cp. Private to "peck": ek. Private to "pica": ai.

"peck" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "pica" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peckepck · pcek · pecck · peckk · pekc · ppeck
  • picaipca · pcia · piac · picca · ppica

Frequency comparison

peck#31,091
pica#7,962

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peck" and "pica" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "peck" is a noun and "pica" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "peck" or "pica"?
"pica" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,962 in our Portuguese list, against #31,091 for "peck". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering peck vs pica

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “peck”; for an adjective, it's “pica”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “peck” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list