pollosvspolvoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,446
“pollos” frequency rank
#3,005
“polvo” frequency rank
15451
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pollos polvo
Definition Forma del plural de pollo. Cualquier sustancia sólida, en especial tierra, reducida a gránulos de diámetro muy fino.

Where the eye mixes pollos and polvo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
pollos
5 ch
polvo

Look-alike desk: pollos vs polvo

A purely visual mix-up. pollos ([ˈpoʝos]) and polvo ([ˈpolβ̞o]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15451, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pollos is recorded at frequency rank #12,446, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpoʝos]. polvo is at rank #3,005, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpolβ̞o].

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 15451, this pair ranks #280,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pollos vs polvo

Shared letters: lop. Private to "pollos": s. Private to "polvo": v.

"pollos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "polvo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pollosopllos · plolos · polloss · pollso · polols · ppollos
  • polvooplvo · plovo · polbo · pollvo · polov · polvvo · povlo · ppolvo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pollos" for "polvo" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpoʝos] versus [ˈpolβ̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pollos" or "polvo"?
"polvo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,005 in our Spanish list, against #12,446 for "pollos". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "pollos" and "polvo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pollos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "polvo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,093 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pollos" and "polvo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pollos vs pómulos". 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 #280,093 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