perovspersonWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pero is a conjunction, person is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pero” is a conjunction and “person” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,884
“pero” frequency rank
#24,105
“person” frequency rank
41989
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pero person
Definition mas, porém pessoa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pero and person apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
pero
6 ch
person

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pero is /ˈpe.ɾu/ while person is /ˈpøːsən/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (conjunction vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 41989, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pero is recorded at frequency rank #17,884, classified as aconj, pronounced /ˈpe.ɾu/. person is at rank #24,105, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpøːsən/.

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 41989, this pair ranks #23,852 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pero vs person

Shared letters: eopr. Private to "pero": -. Private to "person": ns.

"pero" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "person" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • peroepro · peor · perro · ppero · preo
  • personeprson · perosn · perrson · persno · personn · persson · pesron · pperson

Frequency comparison

pero#17,884
person#24,105

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pero" and "person" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pero" is a conjunction and "person" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pero" or "person"?
"pero" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,884 in our Portuguese list, against #24,105 for "person". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pero vs person

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “pero”; for a noun, it's “person”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pero” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list