costela vs costura, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#16,721
“costela” frequency rank: #11,842
“costura” frequency rank: 28563
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	costela	costura
Definition	ossos longos e achatados que ligam a coluna dorsal ao esterno, formando a caixa torácica	ato ou efeito de coser

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set costela and costura apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

costela

7 ch

costura

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. costela (/kuʃ.ˈtɛ.lɐ/) and costura (/kuʃ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/) 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 28563, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

costela is recorded at frequency rank #16,721, classified as anoun, pronounced /kuʃ.ˈtɛ.lɐ/. costura is at rank #11,842, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kuʃ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/.

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 28563, this pair ranks #40,256 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of costela vs costura

Shared letters: acost. Private to "costela": el. Private to "costura": ru.

"costela" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "costura" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

costela ← ccostela · cosetla · cosstela · costeal · costella · costlea · costtela · cotsela
costura ← ccostura · cosstura · costrua · costtura · costuar · costurra · cosutra · cotsura

Frequency comparison

costela#16,721

costura#11,842

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "costela" and "costura" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/kuʃ.ˈtɛ.lɐ/ versus /kuʃ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "costela" or "costura"?

"costura" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #11,842 in our Portuguese list, against #16,721 for "costela". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering costela vs costura

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “costela” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable