pesvsproWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“pes” and “pro” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#28,668
“pes” frequency rank
#1,232
“pro” frequency rank
29900
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pes pro
Definition the foot of a human An advantage of something, especially when contrasted with its disadvantages (cons).

Where the eye mixes pes and pro

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

3 ch
pes
3 ch
pro

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pes (/peɪ̯s/) and pro (/pɹəʊ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29900, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pes is recorded at frequency rank #28,668, classified as anoun, pronounced /peɪ̯s/. pro is at rank #1,232, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɹəʊ/.

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 29900, this pair ranks #359,091 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pes vs pro

Shared letters: p. Private to "pes": es. Private to "pro": or.

"pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pes" and "pro" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/peɪ̯s/ versus /pɹəʊ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pes" or "pro"?
"pro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,232 in our English list, against #28,668 for "pes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

You've compared "pes" and "pro". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pes" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #359,091 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pes" and "pro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pes vs PPA". Nearby pair

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list