Which to use
“destruído” is an adjective and “destruir” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #6,051
- “destruído” frequency rank
- #3,384
- “destruir” frequency rank
- 9435
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | destruído | destruir |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que se destruiu | desfazer, tornar em nada algo que existia |
Where the eye mixes destruído and destruir
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. destruído runs 9 letters (CVCCCVVCV) against destruir's 8 (CVCCCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between destruído and destruir
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: destruído is /dɨʃ.tɾu.ˈi.du/ while destruir is /dɨʃ.tɾu.ˈiɾ/. 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 (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9435, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
destruído is recorded at frequency rank #6,051, classified as anadj, pronounced /dɨʃ.tɾu.ˈi.du/. destruir is at rank #3,384, tagged as averb, pronounced /dɨʃ.tɾu.ˈiɾ/.
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 9435, this pair ranks #64,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of destruído vs destruir
Shared letters: derstu. Private to "destruído": oí. Private to "destruir": i.
"destruído" · 9 letters · shape CVCCCVVCV · "destruir" · 8 letters · shape CVCCCVVC
Known mistypes of this pair
- destruir ← ddestruir · desrtuir · desstruir · destriur · destrruir · destruirr · destruri · desttruir
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "destruído" for "destruir" ever safe?
Frequency check: "destruído" vs "destruir" - which ranks higher?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "destruído" and "destruir" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "destruído" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "destruir" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "destruído" and "destruir" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "destruído vs destruidora". 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 #64,002 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.