prevénvsproveeTell them apart

Which to use

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

#26,188
“prevén” frequency rank
#11,477
“provee” frequency rank
37665
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature prevén provee
Definition Segunda persona del singular (tú) del imperativo afirmativo de prevenir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de proveer o de proveerse.

Where the eye mixes prevén and provee

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

6 ch
prevén
6 ch
provee

Visual trap between prevén and provee

A purely visual mix-up. prevén ([pɾeˈβ̞ẽn]) and provee ([pɾoˈβ̞ee]) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 37665, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

prevén is recorded at frequency rank #26,188, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾeˈβ̞ẽn]. provee is at rank #11,477, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈβ̞ee].

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 37665, this pair ranks #174,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of prevén vs provee

Shared letters: eprv. Private to "prevén": né. Private to "provee": o.

"prevén" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "provee" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • provee ← porvee · pprovee · probee · proeve · prove · provvee · prrovee · prvoee

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "prevén" and "provee" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾeˈβ̞ẽn] versus [pɾoˈβ̞ee]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "prevén" or "provee"?
"provee" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,477 in our Spanish list, against #26,188 for "prevén". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "prevén" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "provee" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #174,122 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "prevén" and "provee" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "presea vs prevén". 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 #174,122 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