Which to use
“pão” and “pau” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,942
- “pão” frequency rank
- #2,492
- “pau” frequency rank
- 4434
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pão | pau |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno | bastão de madeira |
Where the eye mixes pão and pau
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. pão and pau follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between pão and pau
A purely visual mix-up. pão (/ˈpɐ̃w̃/) and pau (/ˈpaw/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4434, 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/. pau is at rank #2,492, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpaw/.
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 4434, this pair ranks #70,473 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pão vs pau
Shared letters: p. Private to "pão": oã. Private to "pau": au.
"pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "pau" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pão" and "pau" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pão" or "pau" show up more?
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 "pau" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,473 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pão" and "pau" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pau vs pix". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #70,473 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.