pânicovspavioWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pânico is a adjective, pavio is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pânico” is an adjective and “pavio” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,857
“pânico” frequency rank
#38,849
“pavio” frequency rank
42706
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pânico pavio
Definition que assusta sem motivo cabo das velas, círios, candeias, mecha

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pânico and pavio apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pânico
5 ch
pavio

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pânico is /ˈpɐ.ni.ku/ while pavio is /pɐ.ˈvi.u/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 42706, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pânico is recorded at frequency rank #3,857, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɐ.ni.ku/. pavio is at rank #38,849, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɐ.ˈvi.u/.

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 42706, this pair ranks #23,043 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pânico vs pavio

Shared letters: iop. Private to "pânico": cnâ. Private to "pavio": av.

"pânico" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pavio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pavioapvio · paivo · pavoi · pavvio · ppavio · pvaio

Frequency comparison

pânico#3,857
pavio#38,849

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pânico" and "pavio" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pânico" is an adjective and "pavio" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pânico" or "pavio"?
"pânico" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,857 in our Portuguese list, against #38,849 for "pavio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pânico vs pavio

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pânico”; for a noun, it's “pavio”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pânico” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list