Which to use
“per” is a preposition and “pio” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #5,775
- “per” frequency rank
- #12,747
- “pio” frequency rank
- 18522
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | per | pio |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | por | inclinado à piedade; devoto, religioso |
Letter map: per vs pio
Shared letters muted; letters that set per and pio apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.
Part-of-speech tell for per / pio
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: per is apreposition and pioanadjective. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18522, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
per is recorded at frequency rank #5,775, classified as aprep. pio is at rank #12,747, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpi.u/.
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 18522, this pair ranks #52,456 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of per vs pio
Shared letters: p. Private to "per": er. Private to "pio": io.
"per" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "pio" · 3 letters · shape CVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "per" for "pio" ever safe?
Which is more common, "per" or "pio"?
Useful next steps
Pair "per" vs "pio" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "per" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,456 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "per" and "pio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pio vs pix". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,456 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.