corvovscouveTell them apart

Which to use

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

#14,553
“corvo” frequency rank
#19,671
“couve” frequency rank
34224
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature corvo couve
Definition pássaro de bico e plumagem pretos planta hortense da família das crucíferas cujo nome científico é Brassica oleracea

Where the eye mixes corvo and couve

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. corvo (CVCCV) and couve (CVVCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

5 ch
corvo
5 ch
couve

Look-alike desk: corvo vs couve

A purely visual mix-up. corvo (/ˈkoɾ.vu/) 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 34224, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

corvo is recorded at frequency rank #14,553, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈkoɾ.vu/. 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 34224, this pair ranks #33,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of corvo vs couve

Shared letters: cov. Private to "corvo": r. Private to "couve": eu.

"corvo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "couve" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • corvo ← ccorvo · corov · corrvo · corvvo · covro · crovo · ocrvo
  • couve ← ccouve · couev · couvve · covue · cuove · ocuve

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "corvo" and "couve" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈkoɾ.vu/ versus /ˈkow.vɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "corvo" or "couve"?
"corvo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,553 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

Eye-level mix-up between "corvo" and "couve" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "corvo" 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 #33,101 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "corvo" 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 #33,101 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