probarvsprócerWhich spelling fits?

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

Which to use

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

#1,994
“probar” frequency rank
#31,072
“prócer” frequency rank
33066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature probar prócer
Definition Estudiar el funcionamiento o las cualidades de algo. Persona de alta distinción social, respetada o de dignidad elevada.

Where the eye mixes probar and prócer

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. probar and prócer follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVC). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

6 ch
probar
6 ch
prócer

Visual trap between probar and prócer

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: probar is [pɾoˈβ̞aɾ] while prócer is [ˈpɾoseɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

probar is recorded at frequency rank #1,994, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈβ̞aɾ]. prócer is at rank #31,072, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpɾoseɾ].

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 33066, this pair ranks #198,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of probar vs prócer

Shared letters: pr. Private to "probar": abo. Private to "prócer": ceó.

"probar" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC  ·  "prócer" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • probar ← porbar · pprobar · prboar · proabr · probarr · probbar · probra · provar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "probar" and "prócer" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "probar" is a verb and "prócer" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Spanish text, does "probar" or "prócer" show up more?
"probar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,994 in our Spanish list, against #31,072 for "prócer". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "probar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prócer" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #198,760 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "probar" and "prócer" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prócer vs process". 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 #198,760 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