pedirvsperderWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#714
“pedir” frequency rank
#704
“perder” frequency rank
1418
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedir perder
Definition solicitar deixar de possuir um objeto ou bem material

Where the eye mixes pedir and perder

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
pedir
6 ch
perder

Visual trap between pedir and perder

A purely visual mix-up. pedir (/pɨ.ˈdiɾ/) and perder (/pɨɾ.ˈdeɾ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1418, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedir is recorded at frequency rank #714, classified as averb, pronounced /pɨ.ˈdiɾ/. perder is at rank #704, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɨɾ.ˈdeɾ/.

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 1418, this pair ranks #74,160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pedir vs perder

Shared letters: depr. Private to "pedir": i. Private to "perder": -.

"pedir" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "perder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pedirepdir · pdeir · peddir · pedirr · pedri · peidr · ppedir
  • perdereprder · pedrer · perdder · perderr · perdre · peredr · perrder · pperder

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pedir" and "perder" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɨ.ˈdiɾ/ versus /pɨɾ.ˈdeɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pedir" or "perder" show up more?
"perder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #704 in our Portuguese list, against #714 for "pedir". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "pedir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "perder" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #74,160 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pedir" and "perder" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perder vs perecer". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #74,160 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