padvspooWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#31,908
“pad” frequency rank
#43,780
“poo” frequency rank
75688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pad poo
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. Polvo.

Where the eye mixes pad and poo

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

3 ch
pad
3 ch
poo

Visual trap between pad and poo

A purely visual mix-up. pad ([ˈpað̞]) and poo ([ˈpɔ.o]) 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 75688, 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]. poo is at rank #43,780, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɔ.o].

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 75688, this pair ranks #19,087 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pad vs poo

Shared letters: p. Private to "pad": ad. Private to "poo": o.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pad" and "poo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpað̞] versus [ˈpɔ.o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pad" or "poo"?
"pad" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #31,908 in our Spanish list, against #43,780 for "poo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pad" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "poo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #19,087 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pad" and "poo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poo vs probo". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #19,087 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