Which to use
“potência” is a noun and “potencial” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #4,095
- “potência” frequency rank
- #1,904
- “potencial” frequency rank
- 5999
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | potência | potencial |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | qualidade de potente | pertencente ou relativo a potência |
Where the eye mixes potência and potencial
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between potência and potencial
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: potência is /pu.ˈtẽ.sjɐ/ while potencial is /pu.tẽ.ˈsjaɫ/. 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 5999, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
potência is recorded at frequency rank #4,095, classified as anoun, pronounced /pu.ˈtẽ.sjɐ/. potencial is at rank #1,904, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pu.tẽ.ˈsjaɫ/.
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 5999, this pair ranks #68,536 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of potência vs potencial
Shared letters: acinopt. Private to "potência": ê. Private to "potencial": el.
"potência" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCCVV · "potencial" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- potencial ← optencial · poetncial · potecnial · potencail · potenccial · potenciall · potencila · potenical
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "potência" and "potencial" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "potência" or "potencial" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "potência" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "potencial" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #68,536 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- 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 #68,536 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.