Which to use
“escolha” and “esmola” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #936
- “escolha” frequency rank
- #23,658
- “esmola” frequency rank
- 24594
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | escolha | esmola |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | ato ou efeito de escolher; | dinheiro dado aos pobres por caridade |
Where the eye mixes escolha and esmola
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. escolha runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against esmola's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: escolha vs esmola
A purely visual mix-up. escolha (/iʃ.ˈko.ʎɐ/) and esmola (/eʒ.ˈmɔ.lɐ/) 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 24594, 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/. esmola is at rank #23,658, tagged as anoun, pronounced /eʒ.ˈmɔ.lɐ/.
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 24594, this pair ranks #44,972 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of escolha vs esmola
Shared letters: aelos. Private to "escolha": ch. Private to "esmola": m.
"escolha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "esmola" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "escolha" for "esmola" ever safe?
Frequency check: "escolha" vs "esmola" - which ranks higher?
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 "escolha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esmola" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #44,972 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "escolha" and "esmola" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "escova vs esmola". 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 #44,972 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.