desenho vs deserto, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#1,879
“desenho” frequency rank: #3,978
“deserto” frequency rank: 5857
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	desenho	deserto
Definition	conjunto de linhas e pontos sobre um plano que formam uma imagem ou ilustração	desabitado, despovoado, solitário

Where the spellings diverge

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

7 ch

desenho

7 ch

deserto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: desenho is /de.ˈze.ɲu/ while deserto is /dɨ.ˈzɛɾ.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5857, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

desenho is recorded at frequency rank #1,879, classified as anoun, pronounced /de.ˈze.ɲu/. deserto is at rank #3,978, tagged as anadj, pronounced /dɨ.ˈzɛɾ.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 5857, this pair ranks #68,690 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of desenho vs deserto

Shared letters: deos. Private to "desenho": hn. Private to "deserto": rt.

"desenho" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV · "deserto" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

desenho ← ddesenho · deesnho · desehno · desenhho · desennho · desenoh · desneho · dessenho
deserto ← ddeserto · deesrto · deserot · deserrto · desertto · desetro · desreto · desserto

Frequency comparison

desenho#1,879

deserto#3,978

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "desenho" and "deserto" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "desenho" is a noun and "deserto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "desenho" or "deserto"?

"desenho" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,879 in our Portuguese list, against #3,978 for "deserto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering desenho vs deserto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “desenho”; for an adjective, it's “deserto”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “desenho” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable