penso vs pes, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,253
“penso” frequency rank: #23,445
“pes” frequency rank: 24698
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	penso	pes
Definition	inclinado; pendido ou de mau jeito	cão

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

penso

3 ch

pes

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: penso is /ˈpẽ.su/ while pes is /ˈpɛs ouvir^(fonte ?). Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 24698, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

penso is recorded at frequency rank #1,253, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpẽ.su/. pes is at rank #23,445, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛs ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 24698, this pair ranks #44,853 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of penso vs pes

Shared letters: eps. Private to "penso": no. Private to "pes": -.

"penso" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "pes" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Known mistypes of this pair

penso ← epnso · pennso · penos · pensso · pesno · pneso · ppenso

Frequency comparison

penso#1,253

pes#23,445

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "penso" and "pes" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "penso" is an adjective and "pes" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "penso" or "pes"?

"penso" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,253 in our Portuguese list, against #23,445 for "pes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering penso vs pes

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “penso”; for a noun, it's “pes”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “penso” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable