Which to use
“cordel” is a noun and “cortês” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #19,668
- “cordel” frequency rank
- #27,024
- “cortês” frequency rank
- 46692
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cordel | cortês |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | corda bastante fina e flexível; barbante, cordão, guita | que tem cortesia |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set cordel and cortês apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
cordel and cortês form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46692, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cordel is recorded at frequency rank #19,668, classified as anoun, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈdɛɫ/. cortês is at rank #27,024, tagged as anadj, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈteʃ/.
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 46692, this pair ranks #18,617 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cordel" and "cortês" be used interchangeably?
Remembering cordel vs cortês
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “cordel”; for an adjective, it's “cortês”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “cordel” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable