pedrãovsperdãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#41,177
“pedrão” frequency rank
#3,278
“perdão” frequency rank
44455
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pedrão perdão
Definition pedrão grande fim de uma exigência

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pedrão and perdão apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pedrão
6 ch
perdão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pedrão (/pe.'dɾoŋ/) and perdão (/pɨɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ only by swapping two adjacent letters (dr ↔ rd) - a transposition the eye reads straight past. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44455, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pedrão is recorded at frequency rank #41,177, classified as anoun, pronounced /pe.'dɾoŋ/. perdão is at rank #3,278, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɨɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/.

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 44455, this pair ranks #21,030 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pedrão vs perdão

Shared letters: deoprã. Private to "pedrão": -. Private to "perdão": -.

"pedrão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "perdão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequency comparison

pedrão#41,177
perdão#3,278

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pedrão" and "perdão" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pe.'dɾoŋ/ versus /pɨɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pedrão" or "perdão"?
"perdão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,278 in our Portuguese list, against #41,177 for "pedrão". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering pedrão vs perdão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pedrão” 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