preçovspresoWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: preço is a noun, preso is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“preço” is a noun and “preso” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#996
“preço” frequency rank
#1,020
“preso” frequency rank
2016
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preço preso
Definition custo unitário de qualquer coisa que possa ser vendida encarceirado, levado à prisão

Letter map: preço vs preso

Shared letters muted; letters that set preço and preso apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
preço
5 ch
preso

Role in the sentence - preço and preso

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: preço is anoun and presoanadjective. On the page they differ by a single letter - ç in “preço” becomes s in “preso”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2016, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preço is recorded at frequency rank #996, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾe.su/. preso is at rank #1,020, tagged as anadj.

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 2016, this pair ranks #73,474 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of preço vs preso

Shared letters: eopr. Private to "preço": ç. Private to "preso": s.

"preço" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "preso" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • presoperso · ppreso · preos · presso · prreso · prseo · rpeso

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "preço" and "preso" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "preço" is a noun and "preso" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "preço" or "preso" show up more?
"preço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #996 in our Portuguese list, against #1,020 for "preso". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "preço" and "preso". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "preço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "preso" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #73,474 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preço" and "preso" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "preso vs priest". 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 #73,474 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