perto vs proto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#509
“perto” frequency rank: #35,741
“proto” frequency rank: 36250
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	perto	proto
Definition	a pouca distância	por isso

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch

perto

5 ch

proto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. perto (/ˈpɛh.tʊ/, /ˈpɛr.tʊ/) and proto (/ˈproto/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36250, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

perto is recorded at frequency rank #509, classified as anadv, pronounced /ˈpɛh.tʊ/, /ˈpɛr.tʊ/. proto is at rank #35,741, tagged as anadv, pronounced /ˈproto/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 36250, this pair ranks #30,616 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of perto vs proto

Shared letters: oprt. Private to "perto": e. Private to "proto": -.

"perto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "proto" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

perto ← eprto · perot · perrto · pertto · pperto
proto ← pproto · proot · protto · prroto · prtoo · rpoto

Frequency comparison

perto#509

proto#35,741

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "perto" and "proto" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈpɛh.tʊ/, /ˈpɛr.tʊ/ versus /ˈproto/ ouvir^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "perto" or "proto"?

"perto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #509 in our Portuguese list, against #35,741 for "proto". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering perto vs proto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “perto” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable