Which to use
“cortês” is an adjective and “cortesia” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,024
- “cortês” frequency rank
- #9,319
- “cortesia” frequency rank
- 36343
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | cortês | cortesia |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que tem cortesia | qualidade de cortês |
Letter map: cortês vs cortesia
Shared letters muted; letters that set cortês and cortesia apart highlighted. Shared run: 5. cortês runs 6 letters (CVCCVC) against cortesia's 8 (CVCCVCVV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Grammar separator: cortês vs cortesia
Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: cortês is anadjective and cortesiaanoun. On the page they differ by 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36343, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
cortês is recorded at frequency rank #27,024, classified as anadj, pronounced /kuɾ.ˈteʃ/. cortesia is at rank #9,319, tagged as anoun.
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 36343, this pair ranks #30,506 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of cortês vs cortesia
Shared letters: corst. Private to "cortês": ê. Private to "cortesia": aei.
"cortês" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVC · "cortesia" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- cortesia ← ccortesia · coretsia · corrtesia · corteisa · cortesai · cortessia · cortseia · corttesia
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "cortês" and "cortesia" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "cortês" or "cortesia" show up more?
What to do next
Done with this confusable. These links stay specific to "cortês" and "cortesia".
- Full dictionary entry for "cortês" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "cortesia" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #30,506 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "cortês" and "cortesia" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Ceres vs cortês". 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 #30,506 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.