coitovscoutoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: coito is a adjective, couto is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“coito” is an adjective and “couto” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,629
“coito” frequency rank
#9,650
“couto” frequency rank
48279
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature coito couto
Definition cozido lugar imune, onde os oficiais da lei não podem entrar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set coito and couto apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
coito
5 ch
couto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: coito is /ˈkoj.tu/ while couto is /ˈkow.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - i in “coito” becomes u in “couto”, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 48279, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

coito is recorded at frequency rank #38,629, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈkoj.tu/. couto is at rank #9,650, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkow.tu/.

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 48279, this pair ranks #16,909 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of coito vs couto

Shared letters: cot. Private to "coito": i. Private to "couto": u.

"coito" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "couto" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coitoccoito · cioto · coiot · coitto · cotio · ocito
  • coutoccouto · cotuo · couot · coutto · cuoto · ocuto

Frequency comparison

coito#38,629
couto#9,650

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "coito" and "couto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "coito" is an adjective and "couto" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "coito" or "couto"?
"couto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,650 in our Portuguese list, against #38,629 for "coito". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering coito vs couto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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