providavspróximaTell them apart

Which to use

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

#39,944
“provida” frequency rank
#1,618
“próxima” frequency rank
41562
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature provida próxima
Definition Que está en contra del aborto. Forma del femenino singular de próximo.

Where the eye mixes provida and próxima

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

7 ch
provida
7 ch
próxima

Visual trap between provida and próxima

A purely visual mix-up. provida ([pɾoˈβ̞ið̞a]) and próxima ([ˈpɾoksima]) 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 41562, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

provida is recorded at frequency rank #39,944, classified as anadj, pronounced [pɾoˈβ̞ið̞a]. próxima is at rank #1,618, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ˈpɾoksima].

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 41562, this pair ranks #153,001 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of provida vs próxima

Shared letters: aipr. Private to "provida": dov. Private to "próxima": mxó.

"provida" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV  ·  "próxima" · 7 letters · shape CCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • providaporvida · pprovida · probida · proivda · provdia · proviad · providda · provvida

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "provida" and "próxima" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([pɾoˈβ̞ið̞a] versus [ˈpɾoksima]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "provida" or "próxima"?
"próxima" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,618 in our Spanish list, against #39,944 for "provida". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "provida" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "próxima" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #153,001 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "provida" and "próxima" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Poveda vs provida". 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 #153,001 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