perdavspiraConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#1,548
“perda” frequency rank
#22,419
“pira” frequency rank
23967
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perda pira
Definition ato de perder pira

Where the eye mixes perda and pira

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
perda
4 ch
pira

Why the eye confuses perda with pira

A purely visual mix-up. perda (/ˈpeɾ.dɐ/) and pira (/'pira/.) 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 23967, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perda is recorded at frequency rank #1,548, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpeɾ.dɐ/. pira is at rank #22,419, tagged as anoun, pronounced /'pira/..

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 23967, this pair ranks #45,753 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perda vs pira

Shared letters: apr. Private to "perda": de. Private to "pira": i.

"perda" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pira" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perdaeprda · perad · perdda · perrda · pperda · preda
  • piraipra · piar · pirra · ppira · pria

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "perda" for "pira" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpeɾ.dɐ/ versus /'pira/.) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perda" or "pira"?
"perda" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,548 in our Portuguese list, against #22,419 for "pira". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "perda" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pira" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,753 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "perda" and "pira" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pira vs pix". 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 #45,753 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