programarvsprogresarTell them apart

Which to use

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

#12,682
“programar” frequency rank
#16,685
“progresar” frequency rank
29367
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature programar progresar
Definition Organizar con anticipación las actividades, partes o contenidos de un evento o serie de eventos, detallando su estructura. Hacer avances o adelantos dentro de un proceso o hacia una meta, plan o ruta.

Where the eye mixes programar and progresar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.

9 ch
programar
9 ch
progresar

Why the eye confuses programar with progresar

A purely visual mix-up. programar ([pɾoɣ̞ɾaˈmaɾ]) and progresar ([pɾoɣ̞ɾeˈsaɾ]) 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 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29367, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

programar is recorded at frequency rank #12,682, classified as averb, pronounced [pɾoɣ̞ɾaˈmaɾ]. progresar is at rank #16,685, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoɣ̞ɾeˈsaɾ].

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 29367, this pair ranks #217,359 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of programar vs progresar

Shared letters: agopr. Private to "programar": m. Private to "progresar": es.

"programar" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC  ·  "progresar" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • programarporgramar · pprogramar · prgoramar · progarmar · proggramar · prograamr · programarr · programmar
  • progresarporgresar · pprogresar · prgoresar · progersar · proggresar · progreasr · progresarr · progresra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "programar" and "progresar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoɣ̞ɾaˈmaɾ] versus [pɾoɣ̞ɾeˈsaɾ]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "programar" or "progresar"?
"programar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,682 in our Spanish list, against #16,685 for "progresar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "programar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "progresar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #217,359 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "programar" and "progresar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "programan vs programar". 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 #217,359 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