Which to use
“escolho” and “espelho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,053
- “escolho” frequency rank
- #3,393
- “espelho” frequency rank
- 15446
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | escolho | espelho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | rochedo submerso que pode danificar embarcações | superfície polida ou muito lisa com capacidade para refletir a luz |
Where the eye mixes escolho and espelho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. escolho and espelho follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses escolho with espelho
A purely visual mix-up. escolho (/iʃ.ˈko.ʎu/) and espelho (/iʃ.ˈpɐj.ʎu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15446, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
escolho is recorded at frequency rank #12,053, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈko.ʎu/. espelho is at rank #3,393, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpɐj.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 15446, this pair ranks #56,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of escolho vs espelho
Shared letters: ehlos. Private to "escolho": c. Private to "espelho": p.
"escolho" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "espelho" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "escolho" and "espelho" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Which is more common, "escolho" or "espelho"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "escolho" and "espelho" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "escolho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espelho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #56,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "escolho" and "espelho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espelhar vs espelho". 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 #56,366 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.