perdervsperdoarWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#704
“perder” frequency rank
#5,777
“perdoar” frequency rank
6481
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature perder perdoar
Definition deixar de possuir um objeto ou bem material deixar de querer mal a alguém que nos foi hostil ou nos fez sofrer, não aplicando um castigo ou punição a essa pessoa; não guardar ressentimentos em relação a alguém

Where the eye mixes perder and perdoar

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
perder
7 ch
perdoar

Why the eye confuses perder with perdoar

A purely visual mix-up. perder (/pɨɾ.ˈdeɾ/) and perdoar (/pɨɾ.ˈdwaɾ/) 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 6481, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perder is recorded at frequency rank #704, classified as averb, pronounced /pɨɾ.ˈdeɾ/. perdoar is at rank #5,777, tagged as averb, pronounced /pɨɾ.ˈdwaɾ/.

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 6481, this pair ranks #67,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of perder vs perdoar

Shared letters: depr. Private to "perder": -. Private to "perdoar": ao.

"perder" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC  ·  "perdoar" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • perdereprder · pedrer · perdder · perderr · perdre · peredr · perrder · pperder
  • perdoareprdoar · pedroar · perdaor · perddoar · perdoarr · perdora · perodar · perrdoar

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "perder" and "perdoar" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/pɨɾ.ˈdeɾ/ versus /pɨɾ.ˈdwaɾ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "perder" or "perdoar"?
"perder" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #704 in our Portuguese list, against #5,777 for "perdoar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "perder" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "perdoar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,947 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "perder" and "perdoar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perder vs perecer". 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 #67,947 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