piãovspuloTell them apart

Which to use

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

#35,727
“pião” frequency rank
#16,593
“pulo” frequency rank
52320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pião pulo
Definition brinquedo que consiste em puxar uma corda enrolada a um objeto afunilado, geralmente de madeira ou plástico e com uma ponta de ferro, colocando-o em rotação no solo, mantendo-se erguido ato de pular; salto pequeno

Letter map: pião vs pulo

Shared letters muted; letters that set pião and pulo apart highlighted. Shared run: 2. pião (CVVV) and pulo (CVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

4 ch
pião
4 ch
pulo

Spelling & dictionary notes on pião vs pulo

pião and pulo are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 52320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pião is recorded at frequency rank #35,727, classified as anoun. pulo is at rank #16,593, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpu.lu/.

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 52320, this pair ranks #12,856 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pião vs pulo

Shared letters: op. Private to "pião": iã. Private to "pulo": lu.

"pião" · 4 letters · shape CVVV  ·  "pulo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pulo ← pluo · ppulo · pullo · puol · uplo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pião" and "pulo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "pião" or "pulo"?
"pulo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #16,593 in our Portuguese list, against #35,727 for "pião". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pair "pião" vs "pulo" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pião" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pulo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #12,856 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pião" and "pulo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pião vs pix". 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 #12,856 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list