pretavsprettyWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: preta is a noun, pretty is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“preta” is a noun and “pretty” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,791
“preta” frequency rank
#11,522
“pretty” frequency rank
14313
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature preta pretty
Definition a bola número 8 dum bilhar ou duma sinuca bem, muito

Letter map: preta vs pretty

Shared letters muted; letters that set preta and pretty apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.

5 ch
preta
6 ch
pretty

Role in the sentence - preta and pretty

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: preta is anoun and prettyanadverb. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 14313, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

preta is recorded at frequency rank #2,791, classified as anoun. pretty is at rank #11,522, tagged as anadv.

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 14313, this pair ranks #57,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of preta vs pretty

Shared letters: eprt. Private to "preta": a. Private to "pretty": y.

"preta" · 5 letters · shape CCVCV  ·  "pretty" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pretaperta · ppreta · preat · pretta · prreta · prtea · rpeta
  • prettypertty · ppretty · prettyy · prety · pretyt · prretty · prtety · rpetty

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "preta" and "pretty" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "preta" is a noun and "pretty" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "preta" or "pretty" show up more?
"preta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,791 in our Portuguese list, against #11,522 for "pretty". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pair "preta" vs "pretty" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.

  • Full dictionary entry for "preta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pretty" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #57,819 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "preta" and "pretty" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "petty vs pretty". 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 #57,819 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