pdvspesTell them apart

Quick tell: pd is a abbrev, pes is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pd” is an abbrev and “pes” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#23,766
“pd” frequency rank
#23,445
“pes” frequency rank
47211
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pd pes
Definition pode, terceira pessoa do singular no presente do indicativo do verbo poder cão

Letter map: pd vs pes

Shared letters muted; letters that set pd and pes apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

2 ch
pd
3 ch
pes

Role in the sentence - pd and pes

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: pd is anabbrev and pesanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47211, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pd is recorded at frequency rank #23,766, classified as anabbrev. pes is at rank #23,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛs ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 47211, this pair ranks #18,060 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pd vs pes

Shared letters: p. Private to "pd": d. Private to "pes": es.

"pd" · 2 letters · shape CC  ·  "pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pd" and "pes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pd" is an abbrev and "pes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pd" or "pes"?
"pes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,445 in our Portuguese list, against #23,766 for "pd". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "pd" vs "pes" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pd" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,060 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pd" and "pes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pd vs pix". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #18,060 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