pançavspataWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#39,779
“pança” frequency rank
#15,417
“pata” frequency rank
55196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pança pata
Definition um dos estômagos dos ruminantes, o primeiro e o maior; bandulho a fêmea do pato

Where the eye mixes pança and pata

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pança runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against pata's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
pança
4 ch
pata

Look-alike desk: pança vs pata

A purely visual mix-up. pança (/ˈpɐ̃.sɐ/) and pata (/ˈpa.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 55196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pança is recorded at frequency rank #39,779, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɐ̃.sɐ/. pata is at rank #15,417, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpa.tɐ/.

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 55196, this pair ranks #10,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pança vs pata

Shared letters: ap. Private to "pança": nç. Private to "pata": t.

"pança" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pata" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pata ← apta · paat · patta · ppata · ptaa

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pança" and "pata" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpɐ̃.sɐ/ versus /ˈpa.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "pança" vs "pata" - which ranks higher?
"pata" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,417 in our Portuguese list, against #39,779 for "pança". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "pança" and "pata" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pança" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pata" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #10,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pança" and "pata" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "paçoca vs pança". 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 #10,751 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list