Which to use
“amigo” is an adjective and “artigo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #384
- “amigo” frequency rank
- #683
- “artigo” frequency rank
- 1067
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | amigo | artigo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que tem ligação com outrem por amizade | palavra que precede os substantivos para os determinar |
Where the eye mixes amigo and artigo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. amigo runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against artigo's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between amigo and artigo
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: amigo is /aˈmi.ɡu/ while artigo is /ɐɾ.ˈti.ɡu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
amigo is recorded at frequency rank #384, classified as anadj, pronounced /aˈmi.ɡu/. artigo is at rank #683, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ɐɾ.ˈti.ɡu/.
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 1067, this pair ranks #74,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of amigo vs artigo
Shared letters: agio. Private to "amigo": m. Private to "artigo": rt.
"amigo" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "artigo" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "amigo" for "artigo" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "amigo" or "artigo" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "amigo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "artigo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "amigo" and "artigo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "aipo vs amigo". 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 #74,563 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.