polovsprologWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“polo” and “prolog” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,722
“polo” frequency rank
#25,269
“prolog” frequency rank
35991
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature polo prolog
Definition das Polohemd PROLOG, Prolog

Where the eye mixes polo and prolog

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

4 ch
polo
6 ch
prolog

Look-alike desk: polo vs prolog

A purely visual mix-up. polo ([ˈpɔlo]) and prolog ([pʁɔlɔɡ]) 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 35991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

polo is recorded at frequency rank #10,722, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔlo]. prolog is at rank #25,269, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pʁɔlɔɡ].

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 35991, this pair ranks #1,626,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of polo vs prolog

Shared letters: lop. Private to "polo": -. Private to "prolog": gr.

"polo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "prolog" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • polooplo · ploo · pollo · ppolo
  • prologporlog · pprolog · prloog · prolgo · prollog · prologg · proolg · prrolog

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "polo" for "prolog" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpɔlo] versus [pʁɔlɔɡ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "polo" vs "prolog" - which ranks higher?
"polo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,722 in our German list, against #25,269 for "prolog". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "polo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prolog" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,626,674 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "polo" and "prolog" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prolog vs propos". 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 #1,626,674 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list