Which to use
“pano” and “pão” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,565
- “pano” frequency rank
- #1,942
- “pão” frequency rank
- 7507
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pano | pão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pão | alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno |
Where the eye mixes pano and pão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pano with pão
A purely visual mix-up. pano (/'pa.nɔ/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7507, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pano is recorded at frequency rank #5,565, classified as anoun, pronounced /'pa.nɔ/. 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 7507, this pair ranks #66,611 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pano vs pão
Shared letters: op. Private to "pano": an. Private to "pão": ã.
"pano" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pano ← apno · panno · paon · pnao · ppano
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pano" for "pão" ever safe?
Frequency check: "pano" vs "pão" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pano" 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 #66,611 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pano" and "pão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pale vs pano". 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 #66,611 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.