propiovsprovinoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: propio is a adjective, provino is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“propio” is an adjective and “provino” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#506
“propio” frequency rank
#32,830
“provino” frequency rank
33336
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature propio provino
Definition Relativo o perteneciente a alguien o a algo, en particular si se tiene la posesión, facultad, derechos o libertad exclusivos para disponer o hacer uso de ello. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de provenir.

Where the eye mixes propio and provino

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

6 ch
propio
7 ch
provino

Look-alike desk: propio vs provino

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: propio is [ˈpɾopjo] while provino is [pɾoˈβ̞ino]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 33336, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

propio is recorded at frequency rank #506, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈpɾopjo]. provino is at rank #32,830, tagged as averb, pronounced [pɾoˈβ̞ino].

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 33336, this pair ranks #197,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of propio vs provino

Shared letters: iopr. Private to "propio": -. Private to "provino": nv.

"propio" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV  ·  "provino" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • propioporpio · ppropio · proipo · propoi · proppio · prpoio · prropio · rpopio
  • provinoporvino · pprovino · probino · proivno · provinno · provion · provnio · provvino

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "propio" for "provino" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "propio" is an adjective and "provino" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "propio" vs "provino" - which ranks higher?
"propio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #506 in our Spanish list, against #32,830 for "provino". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "propio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "provino" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #197,316 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "propio" and "provino" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "propano vs provino". 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 #197,316 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