pipovspisTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#44,375
“pipo” frequency rank
#19,527
“pis” frequency rank
63902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pipo pis
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del presente de indicativo de pipar. Secreción líquida de los riñones, conducida a la vejiga por los uréteres y expelida por la uretra.

Where the eye mixes pipo and pis

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pipo
3 ch
pis

Why the eye confuses pipo with pis

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pipo is [ˈpipo] while pis is [ˈpis]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pipo is recorded at frequency rank #44,375, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpipo]. pis is at rank #19,527, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpis].

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 63902, this pair ranks #47,223 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pipo vs pis

Shared letters: ip. Private to "pipo": o. Private to "pis": s.

"pipo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pis" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pipoippo · piop · pippo · ppio · ppipo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pipo" for "pis" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pipo" is a verb and "pis" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pipo" or "pis" show up more?
"pis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,527 in our Spanish list, against #44,375 for "pipo". 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 "pipo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pis" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,223 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pipo" and "pis" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pipo vs pitón". 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 #47,223 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