povsproTell them apart

Quick tell: po is a intj, pro is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“po” is an intj and “pro” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,029
“po” frequency rank
#1,421
“pro” frequency rank
6450
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature po pro
Definition Denota impaciencia, frustración, alegría y otros sentimientos según la entonación que se le dé.. Úsase para indicar el beneficiario de una acción o iniciativa.

Where the eye mixes po and pro

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

2 ch
po
3 ch
pro

Look-alike desk: po vs pro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: po is [ˈpo] while pro is [ˈpɾo]. 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 (intj vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6450, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

po is recorded at frequency rank #5,029, classified as anintj, pronounced [ˈpo]. pro is at rank #1,421, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ˈpɾo].

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 6450, this pair ranks #310,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of po vs pro

Shared letters: op. Private to "po": -. Private to "pro": r.

"po" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "po" for "pro" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "po" is an intj and "pro" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "po" or "pro" show up more?
"pro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,421 in our Spanish list, against #5,029 for "po". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "po" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #310,739 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "po" and "pro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "po vs PRC". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #310,739 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