departamentovsdepartmentWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#1,068
“departamento” frequency rank
#19,114
“department” frequency rank
20182
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature departamento department
Definition circunscrição departamento

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set departamento and department apart are highlighted. They share 10 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

12 ch
departamento
10 ch
department

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. departamento (/dɨ.pɐɾ.tɐ.ˈmẽ.tu/) and department (/dɪˈpɑː(ɹ)tmənt/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20182, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

departamento is recorded at frequency rank #1,068, classified as anoun, pronounced /dɨ.pɐɾ.tɐ.ˈmẽ.tu/. department is at rank #19,114, tagged as anoun, pronounced /dɪˈpɑː(ɹ)tmənt/.

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 20182, this pair ranks #50,399 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of departamento vs department

Shared letters: ademnprt. Private to "departamento": o. Private to "department": -.

"departamento" · 12 letters · shape CVCVCCVCVCCV  ·  "department" · 10 letters · shape CVCVCCCVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • departamentoddepartamento · deaprtamento · deparatmento · deparrtamento · departaemnto · departamennto · departamenot · departamentto
  • departmentddepartment · deaprtment · deparmtent · deparrtment · departemnt · departmennt · departmentt · departmetn

Frequency comparison

departamento#1,068
department#19,114

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "departamento" and "department" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/dɨ.pɐɾ.tɐ.ˈmẽ.tu/ versus /dɪˈpɑː(ɹ)tmənt/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "departamento" or "department"?
"departamento" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,068 in our Portuguese list, against #19,114 for "department". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering departamento vs department

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 “departamento” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list