cemvscoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: cem is a num, co is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cem” is a num and “co” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,188
“cem” frequency rank
#2,005
“co” frequency rank
5193
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cem co
Definition número equivalente a dez dezenas; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha uma centena de elementos distintos; representado pelo símbolo 100 (algarismos arábicos) ou C (algarismos romanos) que

Letter map: cem vs co

Shared letters muted; letters that set cem and co apart highlighted. Shared run: 1.

3 ch
cem
2 ch
co

Role in the sentence - cem and co

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cem is anum and coapronoun. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5193, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cem is recorded at frequency rank #3,188, classified as anum, pronounced /ˈsɐ̃j̃/. co is at rank #2,005, tagged as apron.

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 5193, this pair ranks #69,486 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of cem vs co

Shared letters: c. Private to "cem": em. Private to "co": o.

"cem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "co" · 2 letters · shape CV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cem" and "co" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cem" is a num and "co" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cem" or "co" show up more?
"co" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,005 in our Portuguese list, against #3,188 for "cem". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cem" and "co".

  • Full dictionary entry for "cem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "co" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #69,486 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cem" and "co" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ciao vs co". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #69,486 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list