corevscouveWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#9,649
“core” frequency rank
#19,671
“couve” frequency rank
29320
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature core couve
Definition núcleo de processamento planta hortense da família das crucíferas cujo nome científico é Brassica oleracea

Where the eye mixes core and couve

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

4 ch
core
5 ch
couve

Why the eye confuses core with couve

A purely visual mix-up. core (ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/) 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29320, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

core is recorded at frequency rank #9,649, classified as anoun, pronounced ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/. 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 29320, this pair ranks #39,357 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of core vs couve

Shared letters: ceo. Private to "core": r. Private to "couve": uv.

"core" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "couve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • coreccore · coer · corre · croe · ocre
  • couveccouve · couev · couvve · covue · cuove · ocuve

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "core" and "couve" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (ˈkɔ.ɾɪ/ versus /ˈkow.vɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "core" or "couve"?
"core" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,649 in our Portuguese list, against #19,671 for "couve". 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 "core" 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 #39,357 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "core" and "couve" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "coice vs couve". 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 #39,357 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