percussãovspersuasãoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#12,744
“percussão” frequency rank
#27,971
“persuasão” frequency rank
40715
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature percussão persuasão
Definition o ato ou fato de percutir ato ou efeito de persuadir(-se)

Where the eye mixes percussão and persuasão

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. percussão (CVCCVCCVV) and persuasão (CVCCVVCVV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

9 ch
percussão
9 ch
persuasão

Look-alike desk: percussão vs persuasão

A purely visual mix-up. percussão (/pɨɾ.ku.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and persuasão (/pɨɾ.swa.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40715, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

percussão is recorded at frequency rank #12,744, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨɾ.ku.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. persuasão is at rank #27,971, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɨɾ.swa.ˈzɐ̃w̃/.

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 40715, this pair ranks #25,353 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of percussão vs persuasão

Shared letters: eoprsuã. Private to "percussão": c. Private to "persuasão": a.

"percussão" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCCVV  ·  "persuasão" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "percussão" and "persuasão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/pɨɾ.ku.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /pɨɾ.swa.ˈzɐ̃w̃/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "percussão" vs "persuasão" - which ranks higher?
"percussão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #12,744 in our Portuguese list, against #27,971 for "persuasão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "percussão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "persuasão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #25,353 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "percussão" and "persuasão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "percurso vs percussão". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #25,353 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list