Which to use
“petição” and “posição” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,317
- “petição” frequency rank
- #715
- “posição” frequency rank
- 8032
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | petição | posição |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | documento entregue pelo advogado ao tribunal para dar início a um processo | lugar, localização no espaço |
Where the eye mixes petição and posição
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. petição and posição follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCVCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses petição with posição
A purely visual mix-up. petição (/pɨ.ti.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and posição (/pu.zi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) 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 8032, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
petição is recorded at frequency rank #7,317, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɨ.ti.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. posição is at rank #715, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pu.zi.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 8032, this pair ranks #65,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of petição vs posição
Shared letters: iopãç. Private to "petição": et. Private to "posição": s.
"petição" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV · "posição" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "petição" for "posição" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "petição" or "posição" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "petição" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posição" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #65,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "petição" and "posição" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "petição vs predição". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #65,901 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.