padecevsparceWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: padece is a verb, parce is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“padece” is a verb and “parce” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#12,211
“padece” frequency rank
#46,104
“parce” frequency rank
58315
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature padece parce
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de padecer. Amigo, compañero, socio o cómplice con quien se tiene mucha intimidad.

Where the eye mixes padece and parce

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. padece runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against parce's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
padece
5 ch
parce

Why the eye confuses padece with parce

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: padece is [paˈð̞ese] while parce is [ˈpaɾse]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 58315, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

padece is recorded at frequency rank #12,211, classified as averb, pronounced [paˈð̞ese]. parce is at rank #46,104, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpaɾse].

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 58315, this pair ranks #66,910 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of padece vs parce

Shared letters: acep. Private to "padece": d. Private to "parce": r.

"padece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "parce" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • padeceapdece · padcee · paddece · padecce · padeec · padese · paedce · pdaece
  • parceaprce · pacre · parcce · parec · parrce · pparce · prace

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "padece" and "parce" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "padece" is a verb and "parce" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "padece" vs "parce" - which ranks higher?
"padece" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,211 in our Spanish list, against #46,104 for "parce". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "padece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "parce" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,910 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "padece" and "parce" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parce vs PRC". 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 #66,910 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