isto

/ˈis.tu/

//ˈis.tu// pron

The verdict

“isto” sits in 16 confusable pairs (corpus #349) as a pronoun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#349
frequency rank, Portuguese
938
“I” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
16
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala

Corpus desk

Index PT-isto · isto · Portuguese

isto · rank #349 · 4 variants · 16 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #349
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 938
  • PHOTO-FINISH fosse

Nearest frequency peer: fosse (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Vizinhos de frequência do confusável “isto”

Pares de peso semelhante no corpus, aparte dos confusáveis abaixo

corpus weight

What this shows As barras situam “isto” face aos lemas portugueses mais próximos por rank, não um reprint da secretária de confusáveis.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

isto vs it
50% similar
isto vs its
50% similar
isto vs is
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for isto
PropertyValue
Headwordisto
LanguagePortuguese
Part of speechPronoun
IPA/ˈis.tu/
Letters4
Frequency rank#349
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs16
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Rank de corpus junto a confusáveis de “isto”

A frequência vai do punhado de palavras do dia a dia (esquerda) à cauda longa quase nunca usada (direita).istocai aqui:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

O eixo é logarítmico: cada tick marca cerca de dez vezes menos frequência. Na mesma faixa de raridade aparecem “fosse” (#348), “população” (#351), “deste” (#346). Entre 938 lemas com “I”, “isto” fica em #349. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for isto is neighbouring look-alikes ("it", "its", …), not just typos; it is apronoun pronounced /ˈis.tu/. Frequency #349 among 938 “I” headwords. Gloss: "indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for isto, with forms such as "isot", "issto", and "istto". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 16 confusable-pair relationships, "it", "its", "is", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct Portuguese form is isto, spelled I-S-T-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how isto appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. quero isto aqui

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • isot
  • issto
  • istto
  • itso

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of isto - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

isot2issto1istto1itso2
Edit distance from "isto"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 Portuguese corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "isto"?
"isto" is spelled I-S-T-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈis.tu/.
What does "isto" mean?
As a pronoun, "isto" means: indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala
What words are commonly confused with "isto"?
"isto" is commonly confused with "it", "its", "is". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "isto"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "isto" is /ˈis.tu/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "isto" come from?
"isto" is a Portuguese word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar Portuguese words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "isto", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked Portuguese headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list