Which to use
“perder” and “pierde” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #855
- “perder” frequency rank
- #2,360
- “pierde” frequency rank
- 3215
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perder | pierde |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Dejar de poseer un objeto o bien material. | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de perder o de perderse. |
Where the eye mixes perder and pierde
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: perder vs pierde
A purely visual mix-up. perder ([peɾˈð̞eɾ]) and pierde ([ˈpjeɾð̞e]) 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 5 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3215, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perder is recorded at frequency rank #855, classified as averb, pronounced [peɾˈð̞eɾ]. pierde is at rank #2,360, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpjeɾð̞e].
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 3215, this pair ranks #318,806 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of perder vs pierde
Shared letters: depr. Private to "perder": -. Private to "pierde": i.
"perder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "pierde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "perder" and "pierde" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "perder" or "pierde" show up more?
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 "perder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pierde" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #318,806 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perder" and "pierde" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perder vs Perseo". 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 #318,806 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.