pêlovspuloWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#26,526
“pêlo” frequency rank
#16,593
“pulo” frequency rank
43119
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pêlo pulo
Definition vide pelo ato de pular; salto pequeno

Where the eye mixes pêlo and pulo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pêlo
4 ch
pulo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pêlo (/ˈpe.lu/) and pulo (/ˈpu.lu/) 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 a single letter - ê in “pêlo” becomes u in “pulo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43119, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pêlo is recorded at frequency rank #26,526, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpe.lu/. pulo is at rank #16,593, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpu.lu/.

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 43119, this pair ranks #22,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pêlo vs pulo

Shared letters: lop. Private to "pêlo": ê. Private to "pulo": u.

"pêlo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pulo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pulopluo · ppulo · pullo · puol · uplo

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pêlo" and "pulo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpe.lu/ versus /ˈpu.lu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pêlo" or "pulo"?
"pulo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,593 in our Portuguese list, against #26,526 for "pêlo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "pêlo" and "pulo". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pêlo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pulo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,552 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pêlo" and "pulo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pêlo vs pilão". 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

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list