partir vs parto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“partir” is a verb and “parto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#298
“partir” frequency rank: #3,925
“parto” frequency rank: 4223
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	partir	parto
Definition	dividir em partes	o ato de dar à luz, o ato de parir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set partir and parto apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

partir

5 ch

parto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: partir is /pɐɾ.ˈtiɾ/ while parto is /ˈpaɾ.tu/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4223, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

partir is recorded at frequency rank #298, classified as averb, pronounced /pɐɾ.ˈtiɾ/. parto is at rank #3,925, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpaɾ.tu/.

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 4223, this pair ranks #70,766 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of partir vs parto

Shared letters: aprt. Private to "partir": i. Private to "parto": o.

"partir" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "parto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

partir ← aprtir · paritr · parrtir · partirr · partri · parttir · patrir · ppartir
parto ← aprto · parot · parrto · partto · patro · pparto

Frequency comparison

partir#298

parto#3,925

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "partir" and "parto" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "partir" is a verb and "parto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "partir" or "parto"?

"partir" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #298 in our Portuguese list, against #3,925 for "parto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering partir vs parto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “partir”; for a noun, it's “parto”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “partir” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable