per vs puf, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“per” is a preposition and “puf” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,775
“per” frequency rank: #39,341
“puf” frequency rank: 45116
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	per	puf
Definition	por	expressa que algo ou alguém sumiu

Letter map: per vs puf

Shared letters muted; letters that set per and puf apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch

per

3 ch

puf

Grammar separator: per vs puf

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: per is apreposition and pufanintj. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 45116, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

per is recorded at frequency rank #5,775, classified as aprep. puf is at rank #39,341, tagged as anintj.

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 45116, this pair ranks #20,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of per vs puf

Shared letters: p. Private to "per": er. Private to "puf": fu.

"per" · 3 letters · shape CVC · "puf" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "per" for "puf" ever safe?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "per" is a preposition and "puf" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Frequency check: "per" vs "puf" - which ranks higher?

"per" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,775 in our Portuguese list, against #39,341 for "puf". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pair "per" vs "puf" 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 "puf" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
This pair ranks #20,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
"per" and "puf" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pix vs puf". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #20,306 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.