escolhavsescovaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#936
“escolha” frequency rank
#11,061
“escova” frequency rank
11997
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature escolha escova
Definition ato ou efeito de escolher; utensílio guarnecido de pelos, sedas, fibras de plástico, fios de arame, etc. que serve para limpar; pode ser usado em roupas, tecidos, móveis, etc

Where the eye mixes escolha and escova

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

7 ch
escolha
6 ch
escova

Look-alike desk: escolha vs escova

A purely visual mix-up. escolha (/iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/) and escova (/iʃ.ˈkɔ.vɐ/) 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 11997, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

escolha is recorded at frequency rank #936, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/. escova is at rank #11,061, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈkɔ.vɐ/.

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 11997, this pair ranks #60,714 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of escolha vs escova

Shared letters: aceos. Private to "escolha": hl. Private to "escova": v.

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

Known mistypes of this pair

  • escolhaecsolha · esccolha · escloha · escohla · escolah · escolhha · escollha · esoclha
  • escovaecsova · esccova · escoav · escovva · escvoa · esocva · esscova · secova

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "escolha" and "escova" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/ versus /iʃ.ˈkɔ.vɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "escolha" vs "escova" - which ranks higher?
"escolha" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #936 in our Portuguese list, against #11,061 for "escova". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "escolha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "escova" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,714 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "escolha" and "escova" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escoar vs escova". 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 #60,714 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