piresvsponesWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#47,328
“pires” frequency rank
#3,436
“pones” frequency rank
50764
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pires pones
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de subjuntivo de pirar o de pirarse. Forma del plural de pon.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pires and pones apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pires
5 ch
pones

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pires is [ˈpiɾes] while pones is [ˈpones]. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50764, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pires is recorded at frequency rank #47,328, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpiɾes]. pones is at rank #3,436, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpones].

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 50764, this pair ranks #101,464 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pires vs pones

Shared letters: eps. Private to "pires": ir. Private to "pones": no.

"pires" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "pones" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • piresipres · piers · piress · pirres · pirse · ppires · pries
  • ponesopnes · pnoes · poens · poness · ponnes · ponse · ppones

Frequency comparison

pires#47,328
pones#3,436

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pires" and "pones" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pires" is a verb and "pones" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pires" or "pones"?
"pones" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,436 in our Spanish list, against #47,328 for "pires". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pires vs pones

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “pires”; for a noun, it's “pones”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pires” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list