pedaçovspesadoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#4,013
“pedaço” frequency rank
#3,509
“pesado” frequency rank
7522
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedaço pesado
Definition uma parte de qualquer coisa que se dividiu que pesa muito

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pedaço
6 ch
pesado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pedaço is /pɨ.ˈda.su/ while pesado is /pɨ.ˈza.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 7522, 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/. pesado is at rank #3,509, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pɨ.ˈza.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 7522, this pair ranks #66,593 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pedaço vs pesado

Shared letters: adeop. Private to "pedaço": ç. Private to "pesado": s.

"pedaço" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pesado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pesadoepsado · peasdo · pesaddo · pesaod · pesdao · pessado · ppesado · pseado

Frequency comparison

pedaço#4,013
pesado#3,509

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pedaço" and "pesado" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pedaço" is a noun and "pesado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pedaço" or "pesado"?
"pesado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,509 in our Portuguese list, against #4,013 for "pedaço". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pedaço vs pesado

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 “pesado”.
  • 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