prendervspreverTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,677
“prender” frequency rank
#20,776
“prever” frequency rank
33453
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prender prever
Definition Tomar, asir, agarrar. Ver o examinar algo antes de su versión definitiva o de someterlo a la vista de otros.

Where the eye mixes prender and prever

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. prender runs 7 letters (CCVCCVC) against prever's 6 (CCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

7 ch
prender
6 ch
prever

Visual trap between prender and prever

A purely visual mix-up. prender ([pɾẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]) and prever ([pɾeˈβ̞eɾ]) 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 33453, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prender is recorded at frequency rank #12,677, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ]. prever is at rank #20,776, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈβ̞eɾ].

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 33453, this pair ranks #196,723 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prender vs prever

Shared letters: epr. Private to "prender": dn. Private to "prever": v.

"prender" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "prever" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • prender ← pernder · pprender · predner · prendder · prenderr · prendre · prenedr · prennder
  • prever ← perver · pprever · preber · preevr · preverr · prevre · prevver · prrever

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "prender" for "prever" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([pɾẽn̪ˈd̪eɾ] versus [pɾeˈβ̞eɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "prender" or "prever" show up more?
"prender" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,677 in our Spanish list, against #20,776 for "prever". 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 "prender" and "prever" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "prender" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prever" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #196,723 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prender" and "prever" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "presea vs prever". 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 #196,723 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