cuatrovscustoTell them apart

Quick tell: cuatro is a num, custo is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“cuatro” is a num and “custo” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#41,423
“cuatro” frequency rank
#1,773
“custo” frequency rank
43196
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature cuatro custo
Definition quatro o quanto algo custa, o preço de algo

Where the eye mixes cuatro and custo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence.

6 ch
cuatro
5 ch
custo

Look-alike desk: cuatro vs custo

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: cuatro is /ˈkŭarto/ while custo is /ˈkuʃ.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43196, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

cuatro is recorded at frequency rank #41,423, classified as anum, pronounced /ˈkŭarto/. custo is at rank #1,773, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈkuʃ.tu/.

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 43196, this pair ranks #22,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of cuatro vs custo

Shared letters: cotu. Private to "cuatro": ar. Private to "custo": s.

"cuatro" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV  ·  "custo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • cuatrocautro · ccuatro · cuarto · cuator · cuatrro · cuattro · cutaro · ucatro
  • custoccusto · csuto · cusot · cussto · custto · cutso · ucsto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "cuatro" and "custo" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "cuatro" is a num and "custo" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "cuatro" or "custo"?
"custo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,773 in our Portuguese list, against #41,423 for "cuatro". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "cuatro" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "custo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #22,472 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "cuatro" and "custo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "cuando vs cuatro". 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 #22,472 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