Which to use
“palo” and “path” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #35,711
- “palo” frequency rank
- #25,422
- “path” frequency rank
- 61133
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | palo | path |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | incêndio, fogo: | caminho |
Where the eye mixes palo and path
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence. palo (CVCV) and path (CVCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: palo vs path
A purely visual mix-up. palo (/ˈpɑ.lo̞/) and path (/pæθ, pɑθ/) 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 61133, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
palo is recorded at frequency rank #35,711, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɑ.lo̞/. 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 61133, this pair ranks #7,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of palo vs path
Shared letters: ap. Private to "palo": lo. Private to "path": ht.
"palo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "path" · 4 letters · shape CVCC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "palo" for "path" ever safe?
Which is more common, "palo" or "path"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "palo" 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 #7,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "palo" and "path" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "palo vs pilão". 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 #7,291 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.