padecervsparecesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#15,678
“padecer” frequency rank
#9,868
“pareces” frequency rank
25546
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature padecer pareces
Definition Sufrir un daño de cualquier clase, como una carga, un mal o una enfermedad Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de parecer o de parecerse.

Where the eye mixes padecer and pareces

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. padecer and pareces follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

7 ch
padecer
7 ch
pareces

Why the eye confuses padecer with pareces

A purely visual mix-up. padecer ([pað̞eˈseɾ]) and pareces ([paˈɾeses]) 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 25546, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

padecer is recorded at frequency rank #15,678, classified as averb, pronounced [pað̞eˈseɾ]. pareces is at rank #9,868, tagged as averb, pronounced [paˈɾeses].

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 25546, this pair ranks #235,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of padecer vs pareces

Shared letters: acepr. Private to "padecer": d. Private to "pareces": s.

"padecer" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "pareces" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • padecer ← apdecer · padceer · paddecer · padeccer · padecerr · padecre · padeecr · padeser
  • pareces ← apreces · paerces · parcees · parecces · parecess · parecse · pareecs · pareses

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "padecer" and "pareces" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pað̞eˈseɾ] versus [paˈɾeses]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "padecer" or "pareces"?
"pareces" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,868 in our Spanish list, against #15,678 for "padecer". 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 "padecer" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pareces" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #235,946 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "padecer" and "pareces" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "parce vs pareces". 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 #235,946 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