precedevsprocederWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,767
“precede” frequency rank
#7,905
“proceder” frequency rank
33672
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature precede proceder
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de preceder. Originarse o provenir de alguna cosa.

Where the eye mixes precede and proceder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

7 ch
precede
8 ch
proceder

Look-alike desk: precede vs proceder

A purely visual mix-up. precede ([pɾeˈseð̞e]) and proceder ([pɾoseˈð̞eɾ]) 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 33672, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

precede is recorded at frequency rank #25,767, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈseð̞e]. proceder is at rank #7,905, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoseˈð̞eɾ].

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 33672, this pair ranks #195,530 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of precede vs proceder

Shared letters: cdepr. Private to "precede": -. Private to "proceder": o.

"precede" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "proceder" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • precedepercede · pprecede · prceede · preccede · precdee · precedde · preceed · preecde
  • procederporceder · pproceder · prcoeder · procceder · procdeer · procedder · procederr · procedre

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "precede" for "proceder" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈseð̞e] versus [pɾoseˈð̞eɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "precede" or "proceder"?
"proceder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,905 in our Spanish list, against #25,767 for "precede". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "precede" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proceder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #195,530 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "precede" and "proceder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "precede vs preceden". 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 #195,530 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