Which to use
“pente” and “pote” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,363
- “pente” frequency rank
- #10,588
- “pote” frequency rank
- 26951
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pente | pote |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | objeto usado para pentear o cabelo | cântaro grande para líquidos |
Where the eye mixes pente and pote
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pente runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against pote's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pente with pote
A purely visual mix-up. pente (/ˈpẽ.tɨ/) and pote (/ˈpɔ.tɨ/) 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 26951, 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/. pote is at rank #10,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔ.tɨ/.
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 26951, this pair ranks #42,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pente vs pote
Shared letters: ept. Private to "pente": n. Private to "pote": o.
"pente" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "pote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pente" and "pote" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pente" or "pote"?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pente" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #42,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pente" and "pote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pedinte vs pente". 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
Confusion rank #42,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.