pierdevsprendeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,360
“pierde” frequency rank
#14,675
“prende” frequency rank
17035
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pierde prende
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de perder o de perderse. Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de subjuntivo de prendar.

Where the eye mixes pierde and prende

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

6 ch
pierde
6 ch
prende

Visual trap between pierde and prende

A purely visual mix-up. pierde ([ˈpjeɾð̞e]) and prende ([ˈpɾẽn̪d̪e]) 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 17035, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pierde is recorded at frequency rank #2,360, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpjeɾð̞e]. prende is at rank #14,675, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɾẽn̪d̪e].

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 17035, this pair ranks #273,804 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pierde vs prende

Shared letters: depr. Private to "pierde": i. Private to "prende": n.

"pierde" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "prende" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pierdeiperde · peirde · piedre · pierdde · piered · pierrde · pirede · ppierde
  • prendepernde · pprende · predne · prendde · prened · prennde · prnede · prrende

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pierde" for "prende" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpjeɾð̞e] versus [ˈpɾẽn̪d̪e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pierde" or "prende"?
"pierde" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,360 in our Spanish list, against #14,675 for "prende". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pierde" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prende" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #273,804 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pierde" and "prende" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pence vs prende". 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 #273,804 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