Which to use
“patente” and “potente” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,811
- “patente” frequency rank
- #13,151
- “potente” frequency rank
- 20962
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | patente | potente |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | manifesto | poderoso; que tem poder |
Where the eye mixes patente and potente
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. patente and potente follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses patente with potente
A purely visual mix-up. patente (/pɐ.ˈtẽ.tɨ/) and potente (/pu.ˈtẽ.tɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “patente” becomes o in “potente”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20962, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
patente is recorded at frequency rank #7,811, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɐ.ˈtẽ.tɨ/. potente is at rank #13,151, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pu.ˈtẽ.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 20962, this pair ranks #49,424 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of patente vs potente
Shared letters: enpt. Private to "patente": a. Private to "potente": o.
"patente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "potente" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "patente" and "potente" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "patente" or "potente" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "patente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "potente" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,424 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "patente" and "potente" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "patente vs piamente". 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 #49,424 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.