peladovspilãoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#17,601
“pelado” frequency rank
#45,522
“pilão” frequency rank
63123
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pelado pilão
Definition sem pelo mão do almofariz

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pelado
5 ch
pilão

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pelado is /pe.ˈla.du/ while pilão is /pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 63123, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pelado is recorded at frequency rank #17,601, classified as anadj, pronounced /pe.ˈla.du/. pilão is at rank #45,522, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pi.ˈlɐ̃w̃/.

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 63123, this pair ranks #6,345 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pelado vs pilão

Shared letters: lop. Private to "pelado": ade. Private to "pilão": .

"pelado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pilão" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

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

Frequency comparison

pelado#17,601
pilão#45,522

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pelado" and "pilão" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pelado" is an adjective and "pilão" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pelado" or "pilão"?
"pelado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,601 in our Portuguese list, against #45,522 for "pilão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pelado vs pilão

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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