pidesvspiresConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#10,044
“pides” frequency rank
#47,328
“pires” frequency rank
57372
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pides pires
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de pedir. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de pirar o de pirarse.

Where the eye mixes pides and pires

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
pides
5 ch
pires

Visual trap between pides and pires

A purely visual mix-up. pides ([ˈpið̞es]) and pires ([ˈpiɾes]) 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 - d in “pides” becomes r in “pires”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 57372, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pides is recorded at frequency rank #10,044, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpið̞es]. pires is at rank #47,328, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpiɾes].

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 57372, this pair ranks #70,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pides vs pires

Shared letters: eips. Private to "pides": d. Private to "pires": r.

"pides" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pidesipdes · pdies · piddes · pidess · pidse · pieds · ppides
  • piresipres · piers · piress · pirres · pirse · ppires · pries

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pides" and "pires" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpið̞es] versus [ˈpiɾes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pides" or "pires" show up more?
"pides" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #10,044 in our Spanish list, against #47,328 for "pires". 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 "pides" and "pires" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pides" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pires" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #70,751 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pides" and "pires" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pires vs prey". 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 #70,751 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