Which to use
“pace” is an adverb and “path” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #29,071
- “pace” frequency rank
- #25,422
- “path” frequency rank
- 54493
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pace | path |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | em paz, pacificamente | caminho |
Where the eye mixes pace and path
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. pace (CVCV) and path (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Visual trap between pace and path
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pace is /ˈpa.t͡se/, /ˈpɑ.t͡sɛ/ while path is /pæθ, pɑθ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pace is recorded at frequency rank #29,071, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈpa.t͡se/, /ˈpɑ.t͡sɛ/. path is at rank #25,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pæθ, pɑθ/.
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 54493, this pair ranks #11,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of pace vs path
Shared letters: ap. Private to "pace": ce. Private to "path": ht.
"pace" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "path" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pace" for "path" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pace" or "path" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "pace" and "path" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pace" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "path" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pace" and "path" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pace vs pale". 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 #11,216 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.