pinguevspinguimWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#38,425
“pingue” frequency rank
#18,674
“pinguim” frequency rank
57099
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pingue pinguim
Definition crasso, gorduroso ave marinha da família Spheniscidae, de corpo fusiforme e asas atrofiadas (assim, incapazes de voar), sendo típica da Antárctida/Antártida e ilhas dos mares austrais

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pingue and pinguim apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
pingue
7 ch
pinguim

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pingue is /ˈpĩ.ɡɨ/ while pinguim is /pɪŋ.ˈgwĩ/. 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 57099, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pingue is recorded at frequency rank #38,425, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈpĩ.ɡɨ/. pinguim is at rank #18,674, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɪŋ.ˈgwĩ/.

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 57099, this pair ranks #9,541 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pingue vs pinguim

Shared letters: ginpu. Private to "pingue": e. Private to "pinguim": m.

"pingue" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "pinguim" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pingueipngue · pignue · pingeu · pinggue · pinngue · pinuge · pnigue · ppingue
  • pinguimipnguim · pignuim · pingguim · pingium · pinguimm · pingumi · pinnguim · pinugim

Frequency comparison

pingue#38,425
pinguim#18,674

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pingue" and "pinguim" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pingue" is an adjective and "pinguim" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pingue" or "pinguim"?
"pinguim" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #18,674 in our Portuguese list, against #38,425 for "pingue". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pingue vs pinguim

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “pingue”; for a noun, it's “pinguim”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pingue” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list