propósitovspropostaConfusable pair

Which to use

“propósito” and “proposta” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#2,024
“propósito” frequency rank
#1,056
“proposta” frequency rank
3080
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature propósito proposta
Definition intenção moção

Where the eye mixes propósito and proposta

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

9 ch
propósito
8 ch
proposta

Visual trap between propósito and proposta

A purely visual mix-up. propósito (/pɾu.ˈpɔ.zi.tu/) and proposta (/pɾu.ˈpɔʃ.tɐ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3080, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

propósito is recorded at frequency rank #2,024, classified as anoun, pronounced /pɾu.ˈpɔ.zi.tu/. proposta is at rank #1,056, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pɾu.ˈpɔʃ.tɐ/.

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 3080, this pair ranks #72,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of propósito vs proposta

Shared letters: oprst. Private to "propósito": . Private to "proposta": a.

"propósito" · 9 letters · shape CCVCVCVCV  ·  "proposta" · 8 letters · shape CCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • propostaporposta · pproposta · proopsta · proposat · propossta · propostta · propotsa · propposta

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "propósito" and "proposta" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/pɾu.ˈpɔ.zi.tu/ versus /pɾu.ˈpɔʃ.tɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "propósito" or "proposta"?
"proposta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,056 in our Portuguese list, against #2,024 for "propósito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "propósito" and "proposta" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "propósito" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "proposta" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #72,136 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "propósito" and "proposta" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "proposição vs propósito". 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 #72,136 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