pãovsperWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pão is a noun, per is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pão” is a noun and “per” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#1,942
“pão” frequency rank
#5,775
“per” frequency rank
7717
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pão per
Definition alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno por

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pão and per apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
pão
3 ch
per

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pão is anoun and perapreposition. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7717, 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/. per is at rank #5,775, tagged as aprep.

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 7717, this pair ranks #66,355 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pão vs per

Shared letters: p. Private to "pão": . Private to "per": er.

"pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV  ·  "per" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequency comparison

pão#1,942
per#5,775

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pão" and "per" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pão" is a noun and "per" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pão" or "per"?
"pão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,942 in our Portuguese list, against #5,775 for "per". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pão vs per

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pão”; for a preposition, it's “per”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pão” 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