posovsposseConfusable pair

Quick tell: poso is a noun, posse is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“poso” is a noun and “posse” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,740
“poso” frequency rank
#42,630
“posse” frequency rank
89370
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poso posse
Definition Sólidos que estaban diluidos en un líquido y por la acción de la gravedad se depositan en el fondo del recipiente que lo contiene al líquido. Infinitivo presente activo de possum.

Where the eye mixes poso and posse

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

4 ch
poso
5 ch
posse

Look-alike desk: poso vs posse

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poso is [ˈposo] while posse is [ˈpɔs.sɛ]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 89370, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

poso is recorded at frequency rank #46,740, classified as anoun, pronounced [ˈposo]. 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 89370, this pair ranks #3,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of poso vs posse

Shared letters: ops. Private to "poso": -. Private to "posse": e.

"poso" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "posse" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • poso ← opso · poos · posso · pposo · psoo
  • posse ← opsse · posce · poses · pposse · psose

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "poso" for "posse" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "poso" is a noun and "posse" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "poso" or "posse"?
"posse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #42,630 in our Spanish list, against #46,740 for "poso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "poso" 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 #3,178 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "poso" and "posse" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poso 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 #3,178 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