Which to use
“coque” and “couve” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #19,388
- “coque” frequency rank
- #19,671
- “couve” frequency rank
- 39059
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | coque | couve |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | substância dura, acinzentada, obtida quando o carvão betuminoso é aquecido em forno de coque sem entrada de ar | planta hortense da família das crucíferas cujo nome científico é Brassica oleracea |
Where the eye mixes coque and couve
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.
Visual trap between coque and couve
A purely visual mix-up. coque (/ˈkɔkɨ/) and couve (/ˈkow.vɨ/) 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 39059, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
coque is recorded at frequency rank #19,388, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkɔkɨ/. couve is at rank #19,671, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkow.vɨ/.
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 39059, this pair ranks #27,286 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of coque vs couve
Shared letters: ceou. Private to "coque": q. Private to "couve": v.
"coque" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "couve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "coque" for "couve" ever safe?
Frequency check: "coque" vs "couve" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "coque" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "couve" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #27,286 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "coque" and "couve" 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 #27,286 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.