pentevspontWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#16,363
“pente” frequency rank
#41,186
“pont” frequency rank
57549
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pente pont
Definition objeto usado para pentear o cabelo ponte

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
pente
4 ch
pont

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pente (/ˈpẽ.tɨ/) and pont (/pɔ̃nd/) 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 57549, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pente is recorded at frequency rank #16,363, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpẽ.tɨ/. pont is at rank #41,186, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɔ̃nd/.

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 57549, this pair ranks #9,272 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pente vs pont

Shared letters: npt. Private to "pente": e. Private to "pont": o.

"pente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pont" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • penteepnte · penet · pennte · pentte · petne · pnete · ppente
  • pontopnt · pnot · ponnt · pontt · potn · ppont

Frequency comparison

pente#16,363
pont#41,186

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pente" and "pont" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpẽ.tɨ/ versus /pɔ̃nd/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pente" or "pont"?
"pente" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,363 in our Portuguese list, against #41,186 for "pont". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pente vs pont

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 “pente” 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