escolarvsescolhoTell them apart

Quick tell: escolar is a adjective, escolho is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

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

#3,392
“escolar” frequency rank
#12,053
“escolho” frequency rank
15445
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escolar escolho
Definition que diz respeito à escola rochedo submerso que pode danificar embarcações

Where the eye mixes escolar and escolho

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. escolar (VCCVCVC) and escolho (VCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
escolar
7 ch
escolho

Why the eye confuses escolar with escolho

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: escolar is /iʃ.ku.ˈlaɾ/ while escolho is /iʃ.ˈko.ʎu/. 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 (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15445, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escolar is recorded at frequency rank #3,392, classified as anadj, pronounced /iʃ.ku.ˈlaɾ/. escolho is at rank #12,053, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈko.ʎu/.

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 15445, this pair ranks #56,368 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of escolar vs escolho

Shared letters: celos. Private to "escolar": ar. Private to "escolho": h.

"escolar" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC  ·  "escolho" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escolar ← ecsolar · esccolar · escloar · escoalr · escolarr · escollar · escolra · esoclar
  • escolho ← ecsolho · esccolho · escloho · escohlo · escolhho · escollho · escoloh · esoclho

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "escolar" and "escolho" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "escolar" is an adjective and "escolho" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "escolar" or "escolho"?
"escolar" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,392 in our Portuguese list, against #12,053 for "escolho". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "escolar" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escolho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #56,368 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escolar" and "escolho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escoar vs escolar". 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 #56,368 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