problemvsproleWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“problem” and “prole” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#17,616
“problem” frequency rank
#30,688
“prole” frequency rank
48304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature problem prole
Definition problema filhos; crianças; descendentes

Letter map: problem vs prole

Shared letters muted; letters that set problem and prole apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

7 ch
problem
5 ch
prole

Pair insight - problem / prole

problem and prole are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

problem is recorded at frequency rank #17,616, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɹɒ.bləm/. prole is at rank #30,688, tagged as anoun.

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 48304, this pair ranks #16,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of problem vs prole

Shared letters: elopr. Private to "problem": bm. Private to "prole": -.

"problem" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC  ·  "prole" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • problemporblem · pproblem · prbolem · probblem · probelm · problemm · probllem · problme
  • proleporle · pprole · prloe · proel · prolle · prrole · rpole

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "problem" and "prole" be used interchangeably?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "problem" or "prole"?
"problem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,616 in our Portuguese list, against #30,688 for "prole". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "problem" vs "prole" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "problem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prole" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #16,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "problem" and "prole" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pale vs prole". 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 #16,885 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list