Which to use
“pão” is a noun and “pasmo” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #1,942
- “pão” frequency rank
- #42,145
- “pasmo” frequency rank
- 44087
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pão | pasmo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno | espantado |
Where the eye mixes pão and pasmo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pão with pasmo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pão is /ˈpɐ̃w̃/ while pasmo is /ˈpaʒ.mu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44087, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pão is recorded at frequency rank #1,942, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɐ̃w̃/. pasmo is at rank #42,145, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpaʒ.mu/.
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 44087, this pair ranks #21,456 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pão vs pasmo
Shared letters: op. Private to "pão": ã. Private to "pasmo": ams.
"pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "pasmo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pasmo ← apsmo · pamso · pasmmo · pasom · passmo · ppasmo · psamo
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pão" and "pasmo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "pão" vs "pasmo" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pasmo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,456 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pão" and "pasmo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pasmo vs pomo". 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 #21,456 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.