peixe vs pele, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,341
“peixe” frequency rank: #1,654
“pele” frequency rank: 3995
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	peixe	pele
Definition	animal aquático pecilotérmico, dotado de corpo fusiforme, nadadeiras e guelras	tecido que reveste externamente o corpo humano e o de muitos animais; couro

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set peixe and pele apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

peixe

4 ch

pele

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. peixe (/ˈpej.ʃi/ plural: /ˈpej.ʃis/ ou /ˈpej.ʃiʃ/) and pele (/ˈpɛ.li/) 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 3995, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

peixe is recorded at frequency rank #2,341, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpej.ʃi/ plural: /ˈpej.ʃis/ ou /ˈpej.ʃiʃ/. pele is at rank #1,654, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛ.li/.

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 3995, this pair ranks #71,047 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of peixe vs pele

Shared letters: ep. Private to "peixe": ix. Private to "pele": l.

"peixe" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV · "pele" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

peixe ← epixe · peiex · peixxe · pexie · piexe · ppeixe
pele ← eple · peel · pelle · plee · ppele

Frequency comparison

peixe#2,341

pele#1,654

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "peixe" and "pele" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈpej.ʃi/ plural: /ˈpej.ʃis/ ou /ˈpej.ʃiʃ/ versus /ˈpɛ.li/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "peixe" or "pele"?

"pele" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,654 in our Portuguese list, against #2,341 for "peixe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering peixe vs pele

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 “peixe” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable