Which to use
“public” is an adjective and “público” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #14,212
- “public” frequency rank
- #382
- “público” frequency rank
- 14594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | public | público |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Público | Espectadores de cualquier acto. |
Where the eye mixes public and público
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. public runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against público's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: public vs público
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: public is [py.blik] while público is [ˈpuβ̞liko]. 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 noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
public is recorded at frequency rank #14,212, classified as anadj, pronounced [py.blik]. público is at rank #382, tagged as anoun, pronounced [ˈpuβ̞liko].
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 14594, this pair ranks #283,504 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of public vs público
Shared letters: bcilp. Private to "public": u. Private to "público": oú.
"public" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "público" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- public ← pbulic · ppublic · pubblic · pubilc · publci · publicc · publlic · pulbic
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "public" and "público" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "public" or "público"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "public" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "público" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #283,504 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "public" and "público" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "púbico vs public". 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 #283,504 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.