par vs pé, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,060
“par” frequency rank: #878
“pé” frequency rank: 2938
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	par	pé
Definition	diz-se dos números divisíveis por 2	extremidade dos membros inferiores do corpo humano, responsável pelo equilíbrio

Where the eye mixes par and pé

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch

par

2 ch

pé

Visual trap between par and pé

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: par is /paχ/ while pé is /ˈpɛ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2938, 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/. pé is at rank #878, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛ/.

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 2938, this pair ranks #72,290 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of par vs pé

Shared letters: p. Private to "par": ar. Private to "pé": é.

"par" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "pé" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "par" and "pé" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "par" is an adjective and "pé" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

In ordinary Portuguese text, does "par" or "pé" show up more?

"pé" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #878 in our Portuguese list, against #2,060 for "par". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "par" and "pé" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

Full dictionary entry for "par" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
Full dictionary entry for "pé" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #72,290 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"par" and "pé" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "par vs pix". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #72,290 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.