Which to use
“pretensão” and “prevenção” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #16,846
- “pretensão” frequency rank
- #4,424
- “prevenção” frequency rank
- 21270
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | pretensão | prevenção |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o ato de pretender ou alegar | ato ou efeito de prevenir |
Where the eye mixes pretensão and prevenção
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. pretensão and prevenção follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CCVCVCCVV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between pretensão and prevenção
A purely visual mix-up. pretensão (/pɾɨ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and prevenção (/pɾɨ.vẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 21270, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
pretensão is recorded at frequency rank #16,846, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɾɨ.tẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. prevenção is at rank #4,424, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɾɨ.vẽ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/.
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 21270, this pair ranks #49,040 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of pretensão vs prevenção
Shared letters: enoprã. Private to "pretensão": st. Private to "prevenção": vç.
"pretensão" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVV · "prevenção" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCCVV
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "pretensão" and "prevenção" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "pretensão" or "prevenção" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pretensão" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "prevenção" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #49,040 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pretensão" and "prevenção" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "prevenção vs prevenido". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #49,040 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.