descobertavsdescobertoConfusable pair

Quick tell: descoberta is a noun, descoberto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“descoberta” is a noun and “descoberto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#3,002
“descoberta” frequency rank
#4,465
“descoberto” frequency rank
7467
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature descoberta descoberto
Definition ato ou efeito de descobrir não coberto, não tapado

Where the eye mixes descoberta and descoberto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence. descoberta and descoberto follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCCVCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.

10 ch
descoberta
10 ch
descoberto

Look-alike desk: descoberta vs descoberto

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: descoberta is /deʃ.ko.ˈbɛχ.tɐ/ while descoberto is /dɨʃ.ku.ˈbɛɾ.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - a in “descoberta” becomes o in “descoberto”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7467, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

descoberta is recorded at frequency rank #3,002, classified as anoun, pronounced /deʃ.ko.ˈbɛχ.tɐ/. descoberto is at rank #4,465, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɨʃ.ku.ˈbɛɾ.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 7467, this pair ranks #66,659 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of descoberta vs descoberto

Shared letters: bcdeorst. Private to "descoberta": a. Private to "descoberto": -.

"descoberta" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV  ·  "descoberto" · 10 letters · shape CVCCVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • descoberta ← ddescoberta · decsoberta · descboerta · desccoberta · descobberta · descoberat · descoberrta · descobertta
  • descoberto ← ddescoberto · decsoberto · descboerto · desccoberto · descobberto · descoberot · descoberrto · descobertto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "descoberta" and "descoberto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "descoberta" is a noun and "descoberto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "descoberta" vs "descoberto" - which ranks higher?
"descoberta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,002 in our Portuguese list, against #4,465 for "descoberto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "descoberta" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "descoberto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,659 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • 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 #66,659 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