parvsproWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#2,060
“par” frequency rank
#1,173
“pro” frequency rank
3233
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature par pro
Definition diz-se dos números divisíveis por 2 para

Where the eye mixes par and pro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
par
3 ch
pro

Look-alike desk: par vs pro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: par is /paχ/ while pro is /ˈprɔ/ 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 preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3233, 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/. pro is at rank #1,173, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ˈprɔ/ 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 3233, this pair ranks #71,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of par vs pro

Shared letters: pr. Private to "par": a. Private to "pro": o.

"par" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "par" and "pro" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "par" is an adjective and "pro" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "par" vs "pro" - which ranks higher?
"pro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,173 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.

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 "pro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "par" and "pro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "par vs pix". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #71,947 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