bocado vs bordado, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“bocado” is a noun and “bordado” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#6,269
“bocado” frequency rank: #23,224
“bordado” frequency rank: 29493
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	bocado	bordado
Definition	porção de alimento que se mete na boca de uma só vez	guarnecido com borda

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set bocado and bordado apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

bocado

7 ch

bordado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: bocado is /bu.ˈka.du/ while bordado is /buɾ.ˈda.du/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29493, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

bocado is recorded at frequency rank #6,269, classified as anoun, pronounced /bu.ˈka.du/. bordado is at rank #23,224, tagged as anadj, pronounced /buɾ.ˈda.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 29493, this pair ranks #39,123 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of bocado vs bordado

Shared letters: abdo. Private to "bocado": c. Private to "bordado": r.

"bocado" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "bordado" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

bocado ← bbocado · bcoado · boacdo · bocaddo · bocaod · boccado · bocdao · obcado
bordado ← bbordado · bodrado · boraddo · bordaddo · bordaod · borddado · borddao · borrdado

Frequency comparison

bocado#6,269

bordado#23,224

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "bocado" and "bordado" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "bocado" is a noun and "bordado" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "bocado" or "bordado"?

"bocado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,269 in our Portuguese list, against #23,224 for "bordado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering bocado vs bordado

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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