zum

/t͡stʊm/

//t͡stʊm// prep

The verdict

“zum” sits in 8 confusable pairs (corpus #43,231) as a preposition. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#43,231
frequency rank, Portuguese
42
“Z” headwords
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ao, à, para o, para a

Corpus desk

Index PT-zum · zum · Portuguese

zum · rank #43,231 · 0 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #43,231
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 42
  • PHOTO-FINISH zeloso

Nearest frequency peer: zeloso (-3 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Vizinhos de frequência do confusável “zum”

Pares de peso semelhante no corpus, aparte dos confusáveis abaixo

corpus weight

What this shows As barras situam “zum” face aos lemas portugueses mais próximos por rank, não um reprint da secretária de confusáveis.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

zum vs zé
33% similar
zum vs za
33% similar
zum vs zu
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for zum
PropertyValue
Headwordzum
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechPreposition
IPA/t͡stʊm/
Letters3
Frequency rank#43,231
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rank de corpus junto a confusáveis de “zum”

Esta escala corre do núcleo do português quotidiano (esquerda) até o rastro de formas raras (direita).zumcai aqui:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

A escala é logarítmica (cada marca ≈ 10× mais rara). Na mesma faixa de raridade aparecem “zeloso” (#43,228), “ágata” (#43,234), “abortado” (#43,240). Entre 42 lemas com “Z”, “zum” fica em #43,231. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for zum is neighbouring look-alikes ("zé", "za", …), not just typos; it is apreposition pronounced /t͡stʊm/. Frequency #43,231 among 42 “Z” headwords. Gloss: "ao, à, para o, para a".

zum has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 8 confusable-pair relationships, "zé", "za", "zu", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct Portuguese form is zum, spelled Z-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    ao, à, para o, para a

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how zum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Die Straße führt zum Rathaus der Stadt.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "zum"?
"zum" is spelled Z-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /t͡stʊm/.
What does "zum" mean?
As a preposition, "zum" means: ao, à, para o, para a
What words are commonly confused with "zum"?
"zum" is commonly confused with "zé", "za", "zu". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "zum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "zum" is /t͡stʊm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "zum" come from?
"zum" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "zum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list