perdãovsperdiçãoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#3,278
“perdão” frequency rank
#21,265
“perdição” frequency rank
24543
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perdão perdição
Definition fim de uma exigência ato de perder

Where the eye mixes perdão and perdição

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. perdão runs 6 letters (CVCCVV) against perdição's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
perdão
8 ch
perdição

Why the eye confuses perdão with perdição

A purely visual mix-up. perdão (/pɨɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/) and perdição (/peɾ.ʤɪ.ˈsãw/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 24543, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perdão is recorded at frequency rank #3,278, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/. perdição is at rank #21,265, tagged as anoun, pronounced /peɾ.ʤɪ.ˈsãw/.

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 24543, this pair ranks #45,042 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perdão vs perdição

Shared letters: deoprã. Private to "perdão": -. Private to "perdição": .

"perdão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "perdição" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perdão" and "perdição" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɨɾ.ˈdɐ̃w̃/ versus /peɾ.ʤɪ.ˈsãw/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perdão" or "perdição"?
"perdão" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,278 in our Portuguese list, against #21,265 for "perdição". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "perdão" and "perdição" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "perdão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "perdição" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #45,042 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "perdão" and "perdição" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perdição vs predição". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #45,042 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