pilarvspisanTell them apart

Quick tell: pilar is a noun, pisan is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pilar” is a noun and “pisan” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,340
“pilar” frequency rank
#35,687
“pisan” frequency rank
41027
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pilar pisan
Definition Elemento arquitectónico vertical de soporte aislado y macizo ya sea de sección rectangular, cruciforme o estrellada, que se usa en la construcción para soportar una estructura. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pisar.

Where the eye mixes pilar and pisan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pilar and pisan follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

5 ch
pilar
5 ch
pisan

Look-alike desk: pilar vs pisan

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pilar is [piˈlaɾ] while pisan is [ˈpisãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41027, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pilar is recorded at frequency rank #5,340, classified as anoun, pronounced [piˈlaɾ]. pisan is at rank #35,687, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpisãn].

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 41027, this pair ranks #155,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pilar vs pisan

Shared letters: aip. Private to "pilar": lr. Private to "pisan": ns.

"pilar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pisan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pilariplar · pialr · pilarr · pilra · pliar · ppilar
  • pisanipsan · piasn · pisann · pisna · pissan · ppisan · psian

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pilar" and "pisan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pilar" is a noun and "pisan" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "pilar" vs "pisan" - which ranks higher?
"pilar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,340 in our Spanish list, against #35,687 for "pisan". 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 "pilar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pisan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #155,890 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pilar" and "pisan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pelan vs pisan". 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 #155,890 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