Which to use
“pisar” is a verb and “prisão” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,125
- “pisar” frequency rank
- #834
- “prisão” frequency rank
- 11959
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pisar | prisão |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | colocar os pés sobre | ato ou efeito de prender |
Where the eye mixes pisar and prisão
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. pisar runs 5 letters (CVCVC) against prisão's 6 (CCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses pisar with prisão
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pisar is /pi.ˈzaɾ/ while prisão is /pɾi.ˈzɐ̃w̃/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11959, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pisar is recorded at frequency rank #11,125, classified as averb, pronounced /pi.ˈzaɾ/. prisão is at rank #834, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɾi.ˈzɐ̃w̃/.
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 11959, this pair ranks #60,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pisar vs prisão
Shared letters: iprs. Private to "pisar": a. Private to "prisão": oã.
"pisar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "prisão" · 6 letters · shape CCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- pisar ← ipsar · piasr · pisarr · pisra · pissar · ppisar · psiar
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pisar" and "prisão" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "pisar" or "prisão"?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "pisar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prisão" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #60,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pisar" and "prisão" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pastar vs pisar". 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 #60,763 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.