patavspotWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#5,869
“pata” frequency rank
#25,766
“pot” frequency rank
31635
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pata pot
Definition Extremidad de los animales utilizada para la locomoción en tierra, que va en número de un único par en las aves y los primates hasta unos 200 pares en los miriápodos de la clase Diplopoda. Funcionalmente similar, es sin embargo evolutivamente muy diferente entre invertebrados y vertebrados. En estos últimos está por lo general dividida claramente en dos secciones, articuladas en la rodilla. Beso, ósculo

Where the eye mixes pata and pot

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

4 ch
pata
3 ch
pot

Visual trap between pata and pot

A purely visual mix-up. pata ([ˈpat̪a]) and pot (/pot/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31635, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pata is recorded at frequency rank #5,869, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpat̪a]. pot is at rank #25,766, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pot/.

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 31635, this pair ranks #206,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pata vs pot

Shared letters: pt. Private to "pata": a. Private to "pot": o.

"pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pot" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • patapaat · patta · ppata · ptaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pata" and "pot" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpat̪a] versus /pot/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pata" or "pot" show up more?
"pata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,869 in our Spanish list, against #25,766 for "pot". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pata" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pot" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #206,072 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pata" and "pot" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pot 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 #206,072 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