berçovsbordoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,434
“berço” frequency rank
#3,456
“bordo” frequency rank
11890
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature berço bordo
Definition leito de criança cada um dos lados de um navio

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
berço
5 ch
bordo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. berço (/ˈbeɾ.su/) and bordo (/ˈbɔɾ.du/) 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 11890, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

berço is recorded at frequency rank #8,434, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈbeɾ.su/. bordo is at rank #3,456, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɔɾ.du/.

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 11890, this pair ranks #60,854 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of berço vs bordo

Shared letters: bor. Private to "berço": . Private to "bordo": d.

"berço" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "bordo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • bordobbordo · bodro · borddo · borod · borrdo · brodo · obrdo

Frequency comparison

berço#8,434
bordo#3,456

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "berço" and "bordo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈbeɾ.su/ versus /ˈbɔɾ.du/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "berço" or "bordo"?
"bordo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,456 in our Portuguese list, against #8,434 for "berço". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering berço vs bordo

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 “berço” 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