pendevsponteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#36,734
“pende” frequency rank
#4,639
“ponte” frequency rank
41373
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pende ponte
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pender. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de ponerse.

Where the eye mixes pende and ponte

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
pende
5 ch
ponte

Visual trap between pende and ponte

A purely visual mix-up. pende ([ˈpẽn̪d̪e]) and ponte ([ˈpõn̪t̪e]) 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 41373, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pende is recorded at frequency rank #36,734, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpẽn̪d̪e]. ponte is at rank #4,639, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpõn̪t̪e].

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 41373, this pair ranks #154,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pende vs ponte

Shared letters: enp. Private to "pende": d. Private to "ponte": ot.

"pende" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "ponte" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pendeepnde · pedne · pendde · pened · pennde · pnede · ppende
  • ponteopnte · pnote · ponet · ponnte · pontte · potne · pponte

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pende" for "ponte" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpẽn̪d̪e] versus [ˈpõn̪t̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pende" vs "ponte" - which ranks higher?
"ponte" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,639 in our Spanish list, against #36,734 for "pende". 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 "pende" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ponte" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #154,012 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pende" and "ponte" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pence vs pende". 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 #154,012 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