Which to use
“padece” is a verb and “piece” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #12,211
- “padece” frequency rank
- #28,109
- “piece” frequency rank
- 40320
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | padece | piece |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de padecer. | Pieza, trozo, pedazo. |
Where the eye mixes padece and piece
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. padece runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against piece's 5 (CVVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses padece with piece
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: padece is [paˈð̞ese] while piece is /piːs/. 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 40320, 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]. piece is at rank #28,109, tagged as anoun, pronounced /piːs/.
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 40320, this pair ranks #159,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of padece vs piece
Shared letters: cep. Private to "padece": ad. Private to "piece": i.
"padece" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "piece" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "padece" and "piece" be used interchangeably?
Frequency check: "padece" vs "piece" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "padece" and "piece" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "padece" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "piece" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #159,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "padece" and "piece" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pence vs piece". 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 #159,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.