cobrevscofreWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,888
“cobre” frequency rank
#13,689
“cofre” frequency rank
17577
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobre cofre
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 local onde se guardam dinheiro e objetos de valor

Where the eye mixes cobre and cofre

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

5 ch
cobre
5 ch
cofre

Visual trap between cobre and cofre

A purely visual mix-up. cobre (/ˈkɔ.bɾi/) and cofre (/ˈkɔ.fɾɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - b in “cobre” becomes f in “cofre”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17577, 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/. cofre is at rank #13,689, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔ.fɾɨ/.

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 17577, this pair ranks #53,639 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cobre vs cofre

Shared letters: ceor. Private to "cobre": b. Private to "cofre": f.

"cobre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "cofre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobrecbore · ccobre · cobbre · cober · cobrre · corbe · ocbre
  • cofreccofre · cfore · cofer · coffre · cofrre · corfe · ocfre

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "cobre" and "cofre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkɔ.bɾi/ versus /ˈkɔ.fɾɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "cobre" or "cofre"?
"cobre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,888 in our Portuguese list, against #13,689 for "cofre". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cobre" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "cofre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #53,639 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobre" and "cofre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cofre vs contre". 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 #53,639 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