cobrevscoqueWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#3,888
“cobre” frequency rank
#19,388
“coque” frequency rank
23276
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cobre coque
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 substância dura, acinzentada, obtida quando o carvão betuminoso é aquecido em forno de coque sem entrada de ar

Where the eye mixes cobre and coque

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
cobre
5 ch
coque

Look-alike desk: cobre vs coque

A purely visual mix-up. cobre (/ˈkɔ.bɾi/) and coque (/ˈkɔkɨ/) 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 23276, 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/. coque is at rank #19,388, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔkɨ/.

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 23276, this pair ranks #46,580 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cobre vs coque

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "cobre": br. Private to "coque": qu.

"cobre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "coque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cobrecbore · ccobre · cobbre · cober · cobrre · corbe · ocbre
  • coqueccoque · coqeu · coqque · couqe · cqoue · ocque

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cobre" and "coque" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkɔ.bɾi/ versus /ˈkɔkɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "cobre" vs "coque" - which ranks higher?
"cobre" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,888 in our Portuguese list, against #19,388 for "coque". 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 "coque" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #46,580 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cobre" and "coque" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Caíque vs coque". 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 #46,580 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