pazvspumTell them apart

Quick tell: paz is a noun, pum is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“paz” is a noun and “pum” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#453
“paz” frequency rank
#28,340
“pum” frequency rank
28793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature paz pum
Definition estado de coisas que se caracteriza pela harmonia entre os elementos que nele habitam exclamação que demonstra a imitação do som da queda de um objeto

Where the eye mixes paz and pum

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

3 ch
paz
3 ch
pum

Look-alike desk: paz vs pum

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: paz is /ˈpaʃ/ while pum is /ˈpũ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

paz is recorded at frequency rank #453, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpaʃ/. pum is at rank #28,340, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈpũ/.

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 28793, this pair ranks #39,987 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of paz vs pum

Shared letters: p. Private to "paz": az. Private to "pum": mu.

"paz" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "pum" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "paz" and "pum" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "paz" is a noun and "pum" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "paz" or "pum" show up more?
"paz" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #453 in our Portuguese list, against #28,340 for "pum". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "paz" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pum" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #39,987 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "paz" and "pum" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pix vs pum". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #39,987 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