peivspouTell them apart

Which to use

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

#45,496
“pei” frequency rank
#26,185
“pou” frequency rank
71681
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pei pou
Definition Decimoséptima letra del alfabeto hebreo Pozo.

Where the eye mixes pei and pou

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

3 ch
pei
3 ch
pou

Visual trap between pei and pou

A purely visual mix-up. pei ([ˈpej]) and pou ([pow]) 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 71681, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pei is recorded at frequency rank #45,496, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpej]. pou is at rank #26,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pow].

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 71681, this pair ranks #26,976 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pei vs pou

Shared letters: p. Private to "pei": ei. Private to "pou": ou.

"pei" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "pou" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pei" and "pou" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpej] versus [pow]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pei" vs "pou" - which ranks higher?
"pou" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #26,185 in our Spanish list, against #45,496 for "pei". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pei" and "pou" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pei" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #26,976 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pei" and "pou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pei vs prey". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #26,976 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