becovsbeijoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#12,381
“beco” frequency rank
#2,464
“beijo” frequency rank
14845
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature beco beijo
Definition viela, rua estreita toque com os beiços na face, mão, boca ou em qualquer objeto como ato de amor, de respeito ou de religiosidade

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set beco and beijo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
beco
5 ch
beijo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. beco (/ˈbe.ku/) and beijo (/ˈbej.ʒu/) 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 14845, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beco is recorded at frequency rank #12,381, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbe.ku/. beijo is at rank #2,464, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbej.ʒu/.

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 14845, this pair ranks #57,125 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beco vs beijo

Shared letters: beo. Private to "beco": c. Private to "beijo": ij.

"beco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "beijo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • becobbeco · bceo · becco · beoc · ebco
  • beijobbeijo · beijjo · beioj · bejio · biejo · ebijo

Frequency comparison

beco#12,381
beijo#2,464

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beco" and "beijo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbe.ku/ versus /ˈbej.ʒu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "beco" or "beijo"?
"beijo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,464 in our Portuguese list, against #12,381 for "beco". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beco vs beijo

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 “beco” 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