paravspriWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: para is a preposition, pri is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“para” is a preposition and “pri” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#18
“para” frequency rank
#3,949
“pri” frequency rank
3967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature para pri
Definition Indica el objetivo o finalidad de la acción. Arcilla.

Where the eye mixes para and pri

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
para
3 ch
pri

Look-alike desk: para vs pri

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: para is [ˈpaɾa] while pri is /ˈpriː/. 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 (preposition vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

para is recorded at frequency rank #18, classified as aprep, pronounced [ˈpaɾa]. pri is at rank #3,949, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpriː/.

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 3967, this pair ranks #317,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of para vs pri

Shared letters: pr. Private to "para": a. Private to "pri": i.

"para" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pri" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • paraapra · paar · ppara · praa

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "para" and "pri" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "para" is a preposition and "pri" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "para" vs "pri" - which ranks higher?
"para" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18 in our Spanish list, against #3,949 for "pri". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "para" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pri" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #317,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "para" and "pri" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prey vs pri". 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 #317,178 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