Which to use
“pontos” is a noun and “posto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #438
- “pontos” frequency rank
- #1,722
- “posto” frequency rank
- 2160
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pontos | posto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | plural de ponto | colocado, plantado, posicionado |
Where the eye mixes pontos and posto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses pontos with posto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: pontos is /ˈpõ.tus/ while posto is /ˈpoʃ.tʊ/. 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 adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2160, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pontos is recorded at frequency rank #438, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpõ.tus/. posto is at rank #1,722, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpoʃ.tʊ/.
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 2160, this pair ranks #73,321 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of pontos vs posto
Shared letters: opst. Private to "pontos": n. Private to "posto": -.
"pontos" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "posto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "pontos" and "posto" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pontos" or "posto" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pontos" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "posto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,321 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pontos" and "posto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Pluto vs posto". 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 #73,321 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.