pedaçovspeladoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pedaço is a noun, pelado is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pedaço” is a noun and “pelado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#4,013
“pedaço” frequency rank
#17,601
“pelado” frequency rank
21614
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedaço pelado
Definition uma parte de qualquer coisa que se dividiu sem pelo

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pedaço
6 ch
pelado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pedaço is /pɨ.ˈda.su/ while pelado is /pe.ˈla.du/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedaço is recorded at frequency rank #4,013, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨ.ˈda.su/. pelado is at rank #17,601, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pe.ˈla.du/.

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 21614, this pair ranks #48,596 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pedaço vs pelado

Shared letters: adeop. Private to "pedaço": ç. Private to "pelado": l.

"pedaço" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pelado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peladoeplado · pealdo · peladdo · pelaod · peldao · pellado · pleado · ppelado

Frequency comparison

pedaço#4,013
pelado#17,601

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pedaço" and "pelado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pedaço" is a noun and "pelado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pedaço" or "pelado"?
"pedaço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,013 in our Portuguese list, against #17,601 for "pelado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pedaço vs pelado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “pedaço”; for an adjective, it's “pelado”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pedaço” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list