isto
/ˈis.tu/
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
- 1,526
- “I” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | isto |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Pronoun |
| IPA | /ˈis.tu/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #349 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “isto” sits in Portuguese frequency
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 1,526 “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
- 1indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala
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.
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
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Using “isto”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct Portuguese spelling is I-S-T-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈis.tu/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “it” - see the side-by-side comparison. isto vs it
- Browse more Portuguese words and confusable pairs in the same reference. Portuguese words
Words at a similar Portuguese frequency
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.