Which to use
“ponto” is a noun and “pouco” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #398
- “ponto” frequency rank
- #172
- “pouco” frequency rank
- 570
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ponto | pouco |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | entidade geométrica cuja característica é a adimensionalidade; sua única propriedade é a posição | presente em baixa quantidade |
Where the eye mixes ponto and pouco
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ponto with pouco
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ponto is /ˈpõ.tu/ while pouco is /ˈpoʊ.kʊ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 570, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ponto is recorded at frequency rank #398, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpõ.tu/. pouco is at rank #172, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpoʊ.kʊ/.
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 570, this pair ranks #75,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of ponto vs pouco
Shared letters: op. Private to "ponto": nt. Private to "pouco": cu.
"ponto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV · "pouco" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ponto" and "pouco" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "ponto" vs "pouco" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "ponto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pouco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #75,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ponto" and "pouco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pluto vs ponto". 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 #75,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.