Which to use
“pan” and “pão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #4,573
- “pan” frequency rank
- #1,942
- “pão” frequency rank
- 6515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pan | pão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | a designação, dirigindo-se a uma pessoa pelo seu nome, apelido, título ou profissão; Sr. | alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno |
Where the eye mixes pan and pão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: pan vs pão
A purely visual mix-up. pan (/ˈpan) and pão (/ˈpɐ̃w̃/) 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 6515, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pan is recorded at frequency rank #4,573, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpan. pão is at rank #1,942, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɐ̃w̃/.
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 6515, this pair ranks #67,906 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pan vs pão
Shared letters: p. Private to "pan": an. Private to "pão": oã.
"pan" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pan" for "pão" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pan" or "pão"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "pan" and "pão" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pan" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #67,906 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pan" and "pão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pan vs pix". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #67,906 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.