pudevspullWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#1,828
“pude” frequency rank
#37,809
“pull” frequency rank
39637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pude pull
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito perfecto simple de indicativo de poder. Tirar (de), jalar.

Where the eye mixes pude and pull

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pude
4 ch
pull

Visual trap between pude and pull

A purely visual mix-up. pude ([ˈpuð̞e]) and pull (/pʊl/) 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 39637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pude is recorded at frequency rank #1,828, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpuð̞e]. pull is at rank #37,809, tagged as averb, pronounced /pʊl/.

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 39637, this pair ranks #163,467 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pude vs pull

Shared letters: pu. Private to "pude": de. Private to "pull": l.

"pude" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pull" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pudepdue · ppude · pudde · pued · upde
  • pullplul · ppull · pul · upll

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pude" for "pull" ever safe?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpuð̞e] versus /pʊl/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pude" vs "pull" - which ranks higher?
"pude" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,828 in our Spanish list, against #37,809 for "pull". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pude" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pull" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #163,467 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pude" and "pull" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pa'l vs pull". 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 #163,467 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