Which to use
“pro” is a preposition and “prove” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,173
- “pro” frequency rank
- #12,132
- “prove” frequency rank
- 13305
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pro | prove |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | para | provar |
Where the eye mixes pro and prove
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pro and prove
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pro is /ˈprɔ/ ouvir^(fonte ?) while prove is /pɹuːv/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “pro” sits inside “prove”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13305, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pro is recorded at frequency rank #1,173, classified as aprep, pronounced /ˈprɔ/ ouvir^(fonte ?). prove is at rank #12,132, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɹuːv/.
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 13305, this pair ranks #59,088 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pro vs prove
Shared letters: opr. Private to "pro": -. Private to "prove": ev.
"pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV · "prove" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- prove ← porve · pprove · proev · provve · prrove · prvoe · rpove
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pro" for "prove" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pro" vs "prove" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pro" and "prove" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prove" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #59,088 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pro" and "prove" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pix vs pro". 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 #59,088 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.