pathvspratoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#25,422
“path” frequency rank
#3,431
“prato” frequency rank
28853
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature path prato
Definition caminho vasilha, normalmente de louça ou metal, em que se come ou se serve comida

Where the eye mixes path and prato

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. path runs 4 letters (CVCC) against prato's 5 (CCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

4 ch
path
5 ch
prato

Visual trap between path and prato

A purely visual mix-up. path (/pæθ, pɑθ/) and prato (/ˈpɾa.tu/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28853, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

path is recorded at frequency rank #25,422, classified as anoun, pronounced /pæθ, pɑθ/. prato is at rank #3,431, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾa.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 28853, this pair ranks #39,908 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of path vs prato

Shared letters: apt. Private to "path": h. Private to "prato": or.

"path" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "prato" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • path ← apth · paht · pathh · patth · ppath · ptah
  • prato ← pprato · praot · pratto · prrato · prtao · rpato

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "path" and "prato" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/pæθ, pɑθ/ versus /ˈpɾa.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "path" vs "prato" - which ranks higher?
"prato" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,431 in our Portuguese list, against #25,422 for "path". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "path" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "prato" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,908 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "path" and "prato" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pale vs path". 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 #39,908 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