escalavsescolhaWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,320
“escala” frequency rank
#936
“escolha” frequency rank
3256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escala escolha
Definition ato de escalar; escada; escalada ato ou efeito de escolher;

Where the eye mixes escala and escolha

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

6 ch
escala
7 ch
escolha

Look-alike desk: escala vs escolha

A purely visual mix-up. escala (/iʃ.ˈka.lɐ/) and escolha (/iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escala is recorded at frequency rank #2,320, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈka.lɐ/. escolha is at rank #936, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/.

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 3256, this pair ranks #71,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of escala vs escolha

Shared letters: acels. Private to "escala": -. Private to "escolha": ho.

"escala" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "escolha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escalaecsala · esacla · escaal · escalla · esccala · esclaa · esscala · secala
  • escolhaecsolha · esccolha · escloha · escohla · escolah · escolhha · escollha · esoclha

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "escala" and "escolha" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/iʃ.ˈka.lɐ/ versus /iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "escala" vs "escolha" - which ranks higher?
"escolha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #936 in our Portuguese list, against #2,320 for "escala". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

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 "escala" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escolha" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,918 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escala" and "escolha" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escala vs estalo". 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 #71,918 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