padvspeiTell them apart

Which to use

“pad” and “pei” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,908
“pad” frequency rank
#45,496
“pei” frequency rank
77404
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pad pei
Definition Periférico táctil presente en las notebooks y otros dispositivos portátiles que permite el movimiento de un cursor sobre una interfaz gráfica; funciona como alternativa al mouse. Decimoséptima letra del alfabeto hebreo

Where the eye mixes pad and pei

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. pad (CVC) and pei (CVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

3 ch
pad
3 ch
pei

Visual trap between pad and pei

A purely visual mix-up. pad ([ˈpað̞]) and pei ([ˈpej]) 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 77404, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pad is recorded at frequency rank #31,908, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpað̞]. pei is at rank #45,496, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpej].

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 77404, this pair ranks #16,070 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pad vs pei

Shared letters: p. Private to "pad": ad. Private to "pei": ei.

"pad" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pei" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pad" and "pei" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpað̞] versus [ˈpej]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pad" or "pei"?
"pad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,908 in our Spanish list, against #45,496 for "pei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "pad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pei" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,070 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pad" and "pei" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pei vs prey". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #16,070 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list