Which to use
“pão” and “proa” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #1,942
- “pão” frequency rank
- #20,411
- “proa” frequency rank
- 22353
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pão | proa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | alimento à base de farinha amassada, fermentada e assada em forno | parte dianteira do navio |
Where the eye mixes pão and proa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between pão and proa
A purely visual mix-up. pão (/ˈpɐ̃w̃/) and proa (/ˈpɾo.ɐ/) 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 22353, 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/. proa is at rank #20,411, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾo.ɐ/.
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 22353, this pair ranks #47,713 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pão vs proa
Shared letters: op. Private to "pão": ã. Private to "proa": ar.
"pão" · 3 letters · shape CVV · "proa" · 4 letters · shape CCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- proa ← pproa · prroa · rpoa
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pão" for "proa" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pão" or "proa"?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "pão" and "proa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "pão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "proa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #47,713 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pão" and "proa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "piza vs proa". 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 #47,713 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.