covscucoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: co is a pronoun, cuco is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#2,005
“co” frequency rank
#30,486
“cuco” frequency rank
32491
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature co cuco
Definition que que tira partido de algo ou de uma pessoa, que é aproveitado, egoísta

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set co and cuco apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch
co
4 ch
cuco

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: co is apronoun and cucoanadjective. On the page they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “co” sits inside “cuco”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 32491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

co is recorded at frequency rank #2,005, classified as apron. cuco is at rank #30,486, tagged as anadj, pronounced /'ku.kʊ/.

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 32491, this pair ranks #35,302 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of co vs cuco

Shared letters: co. Private to "co": -. Private to "cuco": u.

"co" · 2 letters · shape CV  ·  "cuco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cucoccuco · ccuo · cucco · cuoc · ucco

Frequency comparison

co#2,005
cuco#30,486

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "co" and "cuco" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "co" is a pronoun and "cuco" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "co" or "cuco"?
"co" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,005 in our Portuguese list, against #30,486 for "cuco". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering co vs cuco

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a pronoun, it's “co”; for an adjective, it's “cuco”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “co” 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