pãesvspaísWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#14,933
“pães” frequency rank
#214
“país” frequency rank
15147
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pães país
Definition plural de pão região; terra

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pães and país apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pães
4 ch
país

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pães (/ˈpɐ̃j̃ʃ/) and país (/pɐ.ˈiʃ/) 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 15147, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pães is recorded at frequency rank #14,933, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɐ̃j̃ʃ/. país is at rank #214, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɐ.ˈiʃ/.

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 15147, this pair ranks #56,754 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pães vs país

Shared letters: ps. Private to "pães": . Private to "país": .

"pães" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "país" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Frequency comparison

pães#14,933
país#214

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pães" and "país" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpɐ̃j̃ʃ/ versus /pɐ.ˈiʃ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pães" or "país"?
"país" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #214 in our Portuguese list, against #14,933 for "pães". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pães vs país

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pães” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list