barcovsburacoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,745
“barco” frequency rank
#4,450
“buraco” frequency rank
8195
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature barco buraco
Definition veículo de transporte aquático uma abertura através de alguma coisa

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set barco and buraco apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
barco
6 ch
buraco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. barco (/ˈbaɾ.ku/) and buraco (/bu.ˈɾa.ku/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8195, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

barco is recorded at frequency rank #3,745, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbaɾ.ku/. buraco is at rank #4,450, tagged as anoun, pronounced /bu.ˈɾa.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 8195, this pair ranks #65,673 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of barco vs buraco

Shared letters: abcor. Private to "barco": -. Private to "buraco": u.

"barco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "buraco" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • barcoabrco · bacro · barcco · baroc · barrco · bbarco · braco
  • buracobburaco · bruaco · buarco · buracco · buraoc · burcao · burraco · ubraco

Frequency comparison

barco#3,745
buraco#4,450

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "barco" and "buraco" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbaɾ.ku/ versus /bu.ˈɾa.ku/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "barco" or "buraco"?
"barco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,745 in our Portuguese list, against #4,450 for "buraco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering barco vs buraco

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 “barco” 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