Which to use
“perna” is a noun and “persa” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,098
- “perna” frequency rank
- #7,813
- “persa” frequency rank
- 10911
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | perna | persa |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | um dos membros posteriores humanos | da Pérsia antiga |
Where the eye mixes perna and persa
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: perna vs persa
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: perna is /ˈpɛrnɜ/ while persa is /ˈpɛɾ.sə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “perna” becomes s in “persa”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10911, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
perna is recorded at frequency rank #3,098, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɛrnɜ/. persa is at rank #7,813, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɛɾ.sə/.
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 10911, this pair ranks #62,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of perna vs persa
Shared letters: aepr. Private to "perna": n. Private to "persa": s.
"perna" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "persa" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "perna" for "persa" ever safe?
Frequency check: "perna" vs "persa" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Eye-level mix-up between "perna" and "persa" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "perna" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "persa" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "perna" and "persa" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "perna vs pernil". 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 #62,056 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.