cobrevscobroConfusable pair

Quick tell: cobre is a noun, cobro is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,888
“cobre” frequency rank
#32,110
“cobro” frequency rank
35998
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobre cobro
Definition elemento de símbolo Cu, possui o número atômico 29 e massa atômica relativa de 63,536 u; é um metal avermelhado, encontrado na natureza associado a minérios como a cuprita, malaquita, calcopirita e a bornita; por ser excelente condutor de eletricidade e muito resistente à corrosão, é empregado em condutores elétricos, motores, eletroímãs e encanamentos primeira pessoa do singular do presente indicativo do verbo cobrar

Where the eye mixes cobre and cobro

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cobre
5 ch
cobro

Look-alike desk: cobre vs cobro

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cobre is /ˈkɔ.bɾi/ while cobro is /ˈko.bɾu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - e in “cobre” becomes o in “cobro”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35998, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cobre is recorded at frequency rank #3,888, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔ.bɾi/. cobro is at rank #32,110, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈko.bɾu/.

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 35998, this pair ranks #30,924 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cobre vs cobro

Shared letters: bcor. Private to "cobre": e. Private to "cobro": -.

"cobre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cobro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobrecbore · ccobre · cobbre · cober · cobrre · corbe · ocbre
  • cobrocboro · ccobro · cobbro · cobor · cobrro · corbo · ocbro

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cobre" and "cobro" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cobre" is a noun and "cobro" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cobre" or "cobro"?
"cobre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,888 in our Portuguese list, against #32,110 for "cobro". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cobre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cobro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,924 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobre" and "cobro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cobro vs coito". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #30,924 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