pomovsproboWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#32,812
“pomo” frequency rank
#49,876
“probo” frequency rank
82688
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pomo probo
Definition Picaporte redondo de una puerta. Que tiene probidad; honrado y honesto.

Where the eye mixes pomo and probo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pomo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against probo's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
pomo
5 ch
probo

Look-alike desk: pomo vs probo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pomo is [ˈpomo] 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 82688, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pomo is recorded at frequency rank #32,812, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈpomo]. 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 82688, this pair ranks #8,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pomo vs probo

Shared letters: op. Private to "pomo": m. Private to "probo": br.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pomo ← opmo · pmoo · pommo · poom · ppomo
  • probo ← porbo · pprobo · prboo · probbo · proob · provo · prrobo · rpobo

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pomo" for "probo" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pomo" is a noun and "probo" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "pomo" vs "probo" - which ranks higher?
"pomo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #32,812 in our Spanish list, against #49,876 for "probo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pomo" 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 #8,973 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pomo" 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 #8,973 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