pitovsproTell them apart

Quick tell: pito is a noun, pro is a preposition, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“pito” is a noun and “pro” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,589
“pito” frequency rank
#1,173
“pro” frequency rank
44762
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pito pro
Definition o mesmo que pinto; franguinho para

Where the eye mixes pito and pro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
pito
3 ch
pro

Why the eye confuses pito with pro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pito is ['pi.tu] while pro is /ˈprɔ/ ouvir^(fonte ?). 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 (noun vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44762, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pito is recorded at frequency rank #43,589, classified as anoun, pronounced ['pi.tu]. pro is at rank #1,173, tagged as aprep, pronounced /ˈprɔ/ ouvir^(fonte ?).

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 44762, this pair ranks #20,672 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pito vs pro

Shared letters: op. Private to "pito": it. Private to "pro": r.

"pito" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pro" · 3 letters · shape CCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pitoipto · piot · pitto · ppito · ptio

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "pito" for "pro" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "pito" is a noun and "pro" a preposition, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "pito" or "pro"?
"pro" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,173 in our Portuguese list, against #43,589 for "pito". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "pito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #20,672 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pito" and "pro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pito 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 #20,672 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