beijar vs beijo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“beijar” is a verb and “beijo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,602
“beijar” frequency rank: #2,464
“beijo” frequency rank: 8066
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	beijar	beijo
Definition	oscular; dar beijo (ósculo)	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 beijar and beijo apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

beijar

5 ch

beijo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: beijar is /bei̯.ˈʒaʁ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɾ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɹ/ while beijo is /ˈbej.ʒu/. 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 (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 8066, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

beijar is recorded at frequency rank #5,602, classified as averb, pronounced /bei̯.ˈʒaʁ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɾ/, /bei̯.ˈʒaɹ/. 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 8066, this pair ranks #65,844 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of beijar vs beijo

Shared letters: beij. Private to "beijar": ar. Private to "beijo": o.

"beijar" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC · "beijo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

beijar ← bbeijar · beiajr · beijarr · beijjar · beijra · bejiar · biejar · ebijar
beijo ← bbeijo · beijjo · beioj · bejio · biejo · ebijo

Frequency comparison

beijar#5,602

beijo#2,464

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "beijar" and "beijo" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "beijar" is a verb and "beijo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "beijar" or "beijo"?

"beijo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,464 in our Portuguese list, against #5,602 for "beijar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering beijar vs beijo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “beijar”; for a noun, it's “beijo”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “beijar” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable