pidevspudeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,523
“pide” frequency rank
#1,828
“pude” frequency rank
3351
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pide pude
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pedir. Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de poder.

Where the eye mixes pide and pude

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

4 ch
pide
4 ch
pude

Look-alike desk: pide vs pude

A purely visual mix-up. pide ([ˈpið̞e]) and pude ([ˈpuð̞e]) 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 a single letter - i in “pide” becomes u in “pude”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3351, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pide is recorded at frequency rank #1,523, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpið̞e]. pude is at rank #1,828, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpuð̞e].

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 3351, this pair ranks #318,487 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pide vs pude

Shared letters: dep. Private to "pide": i. Private to "pude": u.

"pide" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pude" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pideipde · pdie · pidde · pied · ppide
  • pudepdue · ppude · pudde · pued · upde

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pide" and "pude" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpið̞e] versus [ˈpuð̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pide" vs "pude" - which ranks higher?
"pide" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,523 in our Spanish list, against #1,828 for "pude". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pide" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pude" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #318,487 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pide" and "pude" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pele vs pude". 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 #318,487 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