Which to use
“principal” is an adjective and “príncipe” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #510
- “principal” frequency rank
- #1,505
- “príncipe” frequency rank
- 2015
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | principal | príncipe |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o mais importante | membro da família reinante |
Letter map: principal vs príncipe
Shared letters muted; letters that set principal and príncipe apart highlighted. Shared run: 6. principal runs 9 letters (CCVCCVCVC) against príncipe's 8 (CCVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Part-of-speech tell for principal / príncipe
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: principal is anadjective and príncipeanoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2015, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
principal is recorded at frequency rank #510, classified as anadj. príncipe is at rank #1,505, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɾĩ.sɨ.pɨ/.
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 2015, this pair ranks #73,476 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of principal vs príncipe
Shared letters: cinpr. Private to "principal": al. Private to "príncipe": eí.
"principal" · 9 letters · shape CCVCCVCVC · "príncipe" · 8 letters · shape CCVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- principal ← pirncipal · pprincipal · pricnipal · princcipal · princiapl · principall · principla · princippal
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "principal" for "príncipe" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "principal" or "príncipe" show up more?
After this comparison
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "principal" and "príncipe".
- Full dictionary entry for "principal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "príncipe" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #73,476 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "principal" and "príncipe" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "principado vs principal". 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 #73,476 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.