Which to use
“parar” is a verb and “pilar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #656
- “parar” frequency rank
- #8,938
- “pilar” frequency rank
- 9594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | parar | pilar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | interromper um movimento ou uma ação | coluna de sustentação de edifício ou estrutura; esteio, escora, suporte |
Where the eye mixes parar and pilar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses parar with pilar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: parar is /pɐ.ˈɾaɾ/, /pɐ.ˈɾa/ while pilar is /pi.ˈlaɾ/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9594, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
parar is recorded at frequency rank #656, classified as averb, pronounced /pɐ.ˈɾaɾ/, /pɐ.ˈɾa/. pilar is at rank #8,938, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pi.ˈlaɾ/.
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 9594, this pair ranks #63,779 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of parar vs pilar
Shared letters: apr. Private to "parar": -. Private to "pilar": il.
"parar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "pilar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "parar" for "pilar" ever safe?
Which is more common, "parar" or "pilar"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "parar" and "pilar" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "parar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pilar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #63,779 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "parar" and "pilar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pilão vs pilar". 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 #63,779 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.