parvspariuWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: par is a adjective, pariu is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“par” is an adjective and “pariu” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,060
“par” frequency rank
#16,578
“pariu” frequency rank
18638
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature par pariu
Definition diz-se dos números divisíveis por 2 terceira pessoa do singular do pretérito perfeito do indicativo do verbo parir

Where the eye mixes par and pariu

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

3 ch
par
5 ch
pariu

Why the eye confuses par with pariu

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: par is /paχ/ while pariu is /pɐ.ˈɾiw/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “par” sits inside “pariu”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18638, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

par is recorded at frequency rank #2,060, classified as anadj, pronounced /paχ/. pariu is at rank #16,578, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɐ.ˈɾiw/.

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 18638, this pair ranks #52,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of par vs pariu

Shared letters: apr. Private to "par": -. Private to "pariu": iu.

"par" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pariu" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pariuapriu · pairu · parriu · parui · ppariu · praiu

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "par" for "pariu" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "par" is an adjective and "pariu" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "par" vs "pariu" - which ranks higher?
"par" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,060 in our Portuguese list, against #16,578 for "pariu". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "par" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pariu" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #52,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "par" and "pariu" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pariu vs pavio". 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 #52,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list