pidanvspidesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#11,837
“pidan” frequency rank
#10,044
“pides” frequency rank
21881
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pidan pides
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de subjuntivo de pedir. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de pedir.

Where the eye mixes pidan and pides

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

5 ch
pidan
5 ch
pides

Look-alike desk: pidan vs pides

A purely visual mix-up. pidan ([ˈpið̞ãn]) and pides ([ˈpið̞es]) 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 21881, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pidan is recorded at frequency rank #11,837, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpið̞ãn]. pides is at rank #10,044, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpið̞es].

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 21881, this pair ranks #252,910 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pidan vs pides

Shared letters: dip. Private to "pidan": an. Private to "pides": es.

"pidan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pides" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pidanipdan · pdian · piadn · pidann · piddan · pidna · ppidan
  • pidesipdes · pdies · piddes · pidess · pidse · pieds · ppides

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pidan" for "pides" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpið̞ãn] versus [ˈpið̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pidan" or "pides"?
"pides" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,044 in our Spanish list, against #11,837 for "pidan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pidan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pides" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #252,910 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pidan" and "pides" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pelan vs pidan". 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 #252,910 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