Which to use
“pano” and “prato” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,565
- “pano” frequency rank
- #3,431
- “prato” frequency rank
- 8996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pano | prato |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pão | vasilha, normalmente de louça ou metal, em que se come ou se serve comida |
Where the eye mixes pano and prato
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pano with prato
A purely visual mix-up. pano (/'pa.nɔ/) and prato (/ˈpɾa.tu/) 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 8996, 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/. prato is at rank #3,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾa.tu/.
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 8996, this pair ranks #64,577 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pano vs prato
Shared letters: aop. Private to "pano": n. Private to "prato": rt.
"pano" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "prato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pano" for "prato" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pano" or "prato" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pano" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,577 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pano" and "prato" 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 #64,577 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.