pidesvspuedesWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#10,044
“pides” frequency rank
#298
“puedes” frequency rank
10342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pides puedes
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de pedir. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de poder.

Where the eye mixes pides and puedes

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

5 ch
pides
6 ch
puedes

Look-alike desk: pides vs puedes

A purely visual mix-up. pides ([ˈpið̞es]) and puedes ([ˈpweð̞es]) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10342, 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]. puedes is at rank #298, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpweð̞es].

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 10342, this pair ranks #298,975 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pides vs puedes

Shared letters: deps. Private to "pides": i. Private to "puedes": u.

"pides" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "puedes" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pidesipdes · pdies · piddes · pidess · pidse · pieds · ppides
  • puedespeudes · ppuedes · pudees · pueddes · puedess · puedse · pueeds · upedes

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pides" and "puedes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpið̞es] versus [ˈpweð̞es]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pides" or "puedes" show up more?
"puedes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #298 in our Spanish list, against #10,044 for "pides". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pides" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "puedes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #298,975 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pides" and "puedes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "peines vs pides". 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 #298,975 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