posse vs pote, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,022
“posse” frequency rank: #10,588
“pote” frequency rank: 12610
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	posse	pote
Definition	aquilo que se possui, aquilo que nos pertence	cântaro grande para líquidos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set posse and pote apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

posse

4 ch

pote

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. posse (/ˈpɔ.sɨ/) 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 12610, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

posse is recorded at frequency rank #2,022, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔ.sɨ/. 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 12610, this pair ranks #59,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of posse vs pote

Shared letters: eop. Private to "posse": s. Private to "pote": t.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

posse ← opsse · pose · poses · pposse · psose
pote ← opte · poet · potte · ppote · ptoe

Frequency comparison

posse#2,022

pote#10,588

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "posse" and "pote" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ˈpɔ.sɨ/ versus /ˈpɔ.tɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "posse" or "pote"?

"posse" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,022 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.

Remembering posse vs pote

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “posse” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable