pautarvspintarWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#28,712
“pautar” frequency rank
#5,877
“pintar” frequency rank
34589
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pautar pintar
Definition fazer pautas, traçar linhas em uma folha de papel aplicar substância de uma cor numa superfície de outra, para mudar a cor da superfície

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pautar
6 ch
pintar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pautar (/paw.ˈtaɾ/) and pintar (/pĩ.ˈtaɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 34589, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pautar is recorded at frequency rank #28,712, classified as averb, pronounced /paw.ˈtaɾ/. pintar is at rank #5,877, tagged as averb, pronounced /pĩ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 34589, this pair ranks #32,637 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pautar vs pintar

Shared letters: aprt. Private to "pautar": u. Private to "pintar": in.

"pautar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "pintar" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pautaraputar · patuar · pauatr · pautarr · pautra · pauttar · ppautar · puatar
  • pintaripntar · pinatr · pinntar · pintarr · pintra · pinttar · pitnar · pnitar

Frequency comparison

pautar#28,712
pintar#5,877

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pautar" and "pintar" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/paw.ˈtaɾ/ versus /pĩ.ˈtaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pautar" or "pintar"?
"pintar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,877 in our Portuguese list, against #28,712 for "pautar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pautar vs pintar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pautar” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list