pesadovspesarWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: pesado is a adjective, pesar is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pesado” is an adjective and “pesar” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,509
“pesado” frequency rank
#9,088
“pesar” frequency rank
12597
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pesado pesar
Definition que pesa muito condolência

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
pesado
5 ch
pesar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pesado is /pɨ.ˈza.du/ while pesar is /pɨ.ˈzaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12597, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pesado is recorded at frequency rank #3,509, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɨ.ˈza.du/. pesar is at rank #9,088, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɨ.ˈzaɾ/.

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 12597, this pair ranks #59,936 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of pesado vs pesar

Shared letters: aeps. Private to "pesado": do. Private to "pesar": r.

"pesado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "pesar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pesadoepsado · peasdo · pesaddo · pesaod · pesdao · pessado · ppesado · pseado
  • pesarepsar · peasr · pesarr · pessar · ppesar · psear

Frequency comparison

pesado#3,509
pesar#9,088

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pesado" and "pesar" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pesado" is an adjective and "pesar" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pesado" or "pesar"?
"pesado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,509 in our Portuguese list, against #9,088 for "pesar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pesado vs pesar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pesado”; for a noun, it's “pesar”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pesado” 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