patvsponWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,422
“pat” frequency rank
#6,941
“pon” frequency rank
21363
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pat pon
Definition Cazón. Se emplea solo en la locución pedir pon..

Where the eye mixes pat and pon

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
pat
3 ch
pon

Look-alike desk: pat vs pon

A purely visual mix-up. pat (/pat/) and pon ([ˈpõn]) 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 21363, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pat is recorded at frequency rank #14,422, classified as anoun, pronounced /pat/. pon is at rank #6,941, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpõn].

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 21363, this pair ranks #255,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pat vs pon

Shared letters: p. Private to "pat": at. Private to "pon": no.

"pat" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pon" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pat" for "pon" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/pat/ versus [ˈpõn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pat" or "pon" show up more?
"pon" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,941 in our Spanish list, against #14,422 for "pat". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pat" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pon" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #255,270 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pat" and "pon" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pat vs PRC". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #255,270 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