pudrevspuedeWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#28,896
“pudre” frequency rank
#60
“puede” frequency rank
28956
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pudre puede
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de pudrir. Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de poder.

Where the eye mixes pudre and puede

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

5 ch
pudre
5 ch
puede

Look-alike desk: pudre vs puede

A purely visual mix-up. pudre ([ˈpuð̞ɾe]) and puede ([ˈpweð̞e]) 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 28956, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pudre is recorded at frequency rank #28,896, classified as averb, pronounced [ˈpuð̞ɾe]. puede is at rank #60, tagged as averb, pronounced [ˈpweð̞e].

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 28956, this pair ranks #219,406 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pudre vs puede

Shared letters: depu. Private to "pudre": r. Private to "puede": -.

"pudre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "puede" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pudrepdure · ppudre · puddre · puder · pudrre · purde · updre
  • puedepeude · ppuede · pudee · puedde · pueed · upede

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pudre" and "puede" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([ˈpuð̞ɾe] versus [ˈpweð̞e]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pudre" vs "puede" - which ranks higher?
"puede" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #60 in our Spanish list, against #28,896 for "pudre". 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 "pudre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "puede" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #219,406 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pudre" and "puede" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pudra vs pudre". 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 #219,406 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