cercovscorvoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,512
“cerco” frequency rank
#14,553
“corvo” frequency rank
21065
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cerco corvo
Definition ato de cercar pássaro de bico e plumagem pretos

Where the spellings diverge

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

5 ch
cerco
5 ch
corvo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. cerco (/ˈseɾ.ku/) and corvo (/ˈkoɾ.vu/) 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 21065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cerco is recorded at frequency rank #6,512, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈseɾ.ku/. corvo is at rank #14,553, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkoɾ.vu/.

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 21065, this pair ranks #49,290 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cerco vs corvo

Shared letters: cor. Private to "cerco": e. Private to "corvo": v.

"cerco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "corvo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cercoccerco · cecro · cercco · ceroc · cerrco · creco · ecrco
  • corvoccorvo · corov · corrvo · corvvo · covro · crovo · ocrvo

Frequency comparison

cerco#6,512
corvo#14,553

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cerco" and "corvo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈseɾ.ku/ versus /ˈkoɾ.vu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cerco" or "corvo"?
"cerco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,512 in our Portuguese list, against #14,553 for "corvo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering cerco vs corvo

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 “cerco” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list