posanvsposseWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#41,551
“posan” frequency rank
#42,630
“posse” frequency rank
84181
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature posan posse
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de posar. Infinitivo presente activo de possum.

Where the eye mixes posan and posse

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. posan (CVCVC) and posse (CVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
posan
5 ch
posse

Look-alike desk: posan vs posse

A purely visual mix-up. posan ([ˈposãn]) and posse ([ˈpɔs.sɛ]) 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 84181, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

posan is recorded at frequency rank #41,551, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈposãn]. posse is at rank #42,630, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpɔs.sɛ].

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 84181, this pair ranks #7,320 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of posan vs posse

Shared letters: ops. Private to "posan": an. Private to "posse": e.

"posan" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "posse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • posan ← opsan · poasn · posann · posna · possan · pposan · psoan
  • posse ← opsse · posce · poses · pposse · psose

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "posan" and "posse" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈposãn] versus [ˈpɔs.sɛ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "posan" or "posse"?
"posan" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #41,551 in our Spanish list, against #42,630 for "posse". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "posan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "posse" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #7,320 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "posan" and "posse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "posan vs postas". 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 #7,320 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