parentevspenteConfusable pair

Which to use

“parente” and “pente” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#5,979
“parente” frequency rank
#16,363
“pente” frequency rank
22342
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature parente pente
Definition indivíduo que, em relação a outro, pertence à mesma família objeto usado para pentear o cabelo

Letter map: parente vs pente

Shared letters muted; letters that set parente and pente apart highlighted. Shared run: 5.

7 ch
parente
5 ch
pente

Spelling & dictionary notes on parente vs pente

parente and pente are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 22342, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

parente is recorded at frequency rank #5,979, classified as anoun. pente is at rank #16,363, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpẽ.tɨ/.

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 22342, this pair ranks #47,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of parente vs pente

Shared letters: enpt. Private to "parente": ar. Private to "pente": -.

"parente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV  ·  "pente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • parenteaprente · paernte · parenet · parennte · parentte · paretne · parnete · parrente
  • penteepnte · penet · pennte · pentte · petne · pnete · ppente

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "parente" for "pente" ever safe?
No. They differ by 2 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "parente" or "pente" show up more?
"parente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,979 in our Portuguese list, against #16,363 for "pente". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "parente" and "pente".

  • Full dictionary entry for "parente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #47,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "parente" and "pente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pedinte vs pente". 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 #47,728 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