pontavspoteConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#2,342
“ponta” frequency rank
#10,588
“pote” frequency rank
12930
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ponta pote
Definition extremidade, bico cântaro grande para líquidos

Where the eye mixes ponta and pote

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ponta
4 ch
pote

Look-alike desk: ponta vs pote

A purely visual mix-up. ponta (/ˈpõ.tɐ/) and pote (/ˈpɔ.tɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12930, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ponta is recorded at frequency rank #2,342, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpõ.tɐ/. pote is at rank #10,588, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔ.tɨ/.

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 12930, this pair ranks #59,533 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of ponta vs pote

Shared letters: opt. Private to "ponta": an. Private to "pote": e.

"ponta" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pote" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pontaopnta · pnota · ponat · ponnta · pontta · potna · pponta
  • poteopte · poet · potte · ppote · ptoe

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ponta" and "pote" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpõ.tɐ/ versus /ˈpɔ.tɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "ponta" or "pote"?
"ponta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,342 in our Portuguese list, against #10,588 for "pote". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "ponta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pote" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #59,533 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ponta" and "pote" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pale vs pote". 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 #59,533 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