brilhar vs brilho, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#9,965
“brilhar” frequency rank: #4,046
“brilho” frequency rank: 14011
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	brilhar	brilho
Definition	despedir brilho	brilho

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

brilhar

6 ch

brilho

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: brilhar is /bɾi.ˈʎaɾ/ while brilho is /ˈbɾi.ʎu/. 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 14011, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

brilhar is recorded at frequency rank #9,965, classified as averb, pronounced /bɾi.ˈʎaɾ/. brilho is at rank #4,046, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈbɾi.ʎu/.

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 14011, this pair ranks #58,187 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of brilhar vs brilho

Shared letters: bhilr. Private to "brilhar": a. Private to "brilho": o.

"brilhar" · 7 letters · shape CCVCCVC · "brilho" · 6 letters · shape CCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

brilhar ← bbrilhar · birlhar · brihlar · brilahr · brilharr · brilhhar · brilhra · brillhar
brilho ← bbrilho · birlho · brihlo · brilhho · brillho · briloh · brliho · brrilho

Frequency comparison

brilhar#9,965

brilho#4,046

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "brilhar" and "brilho" be used interchangeably?

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

Which is more common, "brilhar" or "brilho"?

"brilho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,046 in our Portuguese list, against #9,965 for "brilhar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering brilhar vs brilho

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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