o
/u/
The verdict
“o” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #3) as an article. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #3
- frequency rank, Portuguese
- 385
- “O” headwords
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - partícula gramatical usada antes de substantivos ou palavras substantivadas; por geral indica uma coisa em particular
Corpus desk
Index PT-o · o · Portuguese
o · rank #3 · 0 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #3
- LEN-SHORT 1 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 385
- PHOTO-FINISH A
Nearest frequency peer: A (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “o”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- de
de
100,000 corpus weight
- A
A
99,999 corpus weight
- o
o
99,998 corpus weight
- que
que
99,997 corpus weight
- e
e
99,996 corpus weight
- do
do
99,995 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “o” sits against the nearest ranked Portuguese headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | o |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Part of speech | Article |
| IPA | /u/ |
| Letters | 1 |
| Frequency rank | #3 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “o” sits in Portuguese frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for o is neighbouring look-alikes ("os", "ou", …), not just typos; it is anarticle pronounced /u/. Frequency #3 among 385 “O” headwords. Gloss: "partícula gramatical usada antes de substantivos ou palavras substantivadas; por geral indica uma coisa em particular".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for o, suggesting the orthography follows predictable Portuguese patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "os", "ou", "oi", 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 pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct Portuguese form is o, spelled O.
Definition
- 1partícula gramatical usada antes de substantivos ou palavras substantivadas; por geral indica uma coisa em particular
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how o appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Olinda, a velha cidade em ruínas, abrigando no seio a mocidade rica de seiva e de vida; o passado com todas as suas gloriosas recordações, e o futuro com as suas brilhantes esperanças; essa aliança misteriosa de dois mundos, de duas gerações, uma apenas em flor, a outra já cinzas, separadas pelo tempo, e reunidas pelas vicissitudes da existência humana, m…
Invocando Apolo, o Poeta conta como do Paraíso Terrestre ele e Beatriz se alçaram ao Céu, atravessando a esfera do fogo.
This word in other languages
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "o"?
What does "o" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "o"?
How do you pronounce "o"?
What language does "o" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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.