pocovsproboConfusable pair

Quick tell: poco is a adverb, probo is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“poco” is an adverb and “probo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#115
“poco” frequency rank
#49,876
“probo” frequency rank
49991
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poco probo
Definition En menor cantidad de lo que se hubiera esperado, en intensidad baja, o en menor grado. Que tiene probidad; honrado y honesto.

Where the eye mixes poco and probo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
poco
5 ch
probo

Visual trap between poco and probo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poco is [ˈpoko] while probo is [ˈpɾoβ̞o]. 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 (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49991, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poco is recorded at frequency rank #115, classified as anadv, pronounced [ˈpoko]. probo is at rank #49,876, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpɾoβ̞o].

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 49991, this pair ranks #105,701 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of poco vs probo

Shared letters: op. Private to "poco": c. Private to "probo": br.

"poco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "probo" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pocoopco · pcoo · pocco · pooc · ppoco
  • proboporbo · pprobo · prboo · probbo · proob · provo · prrobo · rpobo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "poco" for "probo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "poco" is an adverb and "probo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "poco" or "probo"?
"poco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #115 in our Spanish list, against #49,876 for "probo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "poco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "probo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #105,701 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "poco" and "probo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pombo vs probo". 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 #105,701 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