alcevsascoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#48,754
“alce” frequency rank
#37,190
“asco” frequency rank
85944
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature alce asco
Definition mamífero artiodáctilo da família dos cervídeos (Alces alces), que ocorre nas regiões frias ao norte do hemisfério norte; de pelagem escura, ponta do focinho larga e arqueada e grande galhada espalmada, com numerosas pontas, presente somente nos machos [É o maior dos cervídeos, alcançando até 3 m de comprimento.] nojo

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set alce and asco apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
alce
4 ch
asco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. alce (/ˈaɫ.sɨ/) and asco (/ˈaʃ.ku/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 85944, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

alce is recorded at frequency rank #48,754, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈaɫ.sɨ/. asco is at rank #37,190, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈaʃ.ku/.

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 85944, this pair ranks #638 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of alce vs asco

Shared letters: ac. Private to "alce": el. Private to "asco": os.

"alce" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "asco" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • alcealcce · alec · allce · lace
  • ascoascco · asoc · assco

Frequency comparison

alce#48,754
asco#37,190

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "alce" and "asco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈaɫ.sɨ/ versus /ˈaʃ.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "alce" or "asco"?
"asco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #37,190 in our Portuguese list, against #48,754 for "alce". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering alce vs asco

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “alce” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list