parvspesTell them apart

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

Which to use

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

#2,060
“par” frequency rank
#23,445
“pes” frequency rank
25505
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature par pes
Definition diz-se dos números divisíveis por 2 cão

Where the eye mixes par and pes

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

3 ch
par
3 ch
pes

Look-alike desk: par vs pes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: par is /paχ/ while pes is /ˈpɛs ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 25505, 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/. pes is at rank #23,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛs ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 25505, this pair ranks #43,793 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of par vs pes

Shared letters: p. Private to "par": ar. Private to "pes": es.

"par" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "par" for "pes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "par" is an adjective and "pes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "par" or "pes"?
"par" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,060 in our Portuguese list, against #23,445 for "pes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "par" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #43,793 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "par" and "pes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pes vs pix". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #43,793 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