pisvspouWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#19,527
“pis” frequency rank
#26,185
“pou” frequency rank
45712
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pis pou
Definition Secreción líquida de los riñones, conducida a la vejiga por los uréteres y expelida por la uretra. Pozo.

Where the eye mixes pis and pou

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
pis
3 ch
pou

Visual trap between pis and pou

A purely visual mix-up. pis ([ˈpis]) and pou ([pow]) 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 45712, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pis is recorded at frequency rank #19,527, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpis]. pou is at rank #26,185, tagged as anoun, pronounced [pow].

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 45712, this pair ranks #129,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pis vs pou

Shared letters: p. Private to "pis": is. Private to "pou": ou.

"pis" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pou" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pis" and "pou" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpis] versus [pow]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "pis" or "pou" show up more?
"pis" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19,527 in our Spanish list, against #26,185 for "pou". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pis" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pou" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #129,857 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pis" and "pou" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pou vs PRC". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #129,857 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