Which to use
“pois” is a conjunction and “por” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #251
- “pois” frequency rank
- #18
- “por” frequency rank
- 269
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pois | por |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | logo, pelo que, portanto, por consequência, por conseguinte: | exprime, entre outras relações, causa, modo, tempo, meio, lugar, qualidade, estado, preço, etc |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pois and por apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
pois and por form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pois is recorded at frequency rank #251, classified as aconj, pronounced /ˈpojʃ/. por is at rank #18, tagged as aprep, pronounced /poɾ/, /pʊɾ/.
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 269, this pair ranks #75,367 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pois" and "por" be used interchangeably?
Remembering pois vs por
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a conjunction, it's “pois”; for a preposition, it's “por”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “pois” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable