Which to use
“espelho” is a noun and “esperto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,393
- “espelho” frequency rank
- #7,905
- “esperto” frequency rank
- 11298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espelho | esperto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | superfície polida ou muito lisa com capacidade para refletir a luz | o mesmo que desperto |
Where the eye mixes espelho and esperto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. espelho and esperto follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between espelho and esperto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: espelho is /iʃ.ˈpɐj.ʎu/ while esperto is /isˈpɛʁ.tu/ [isˈpɛh.tu], /esˈpɛʁ.tu/ [esˈpɛh.tu]. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 11298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espelho is recorded at frequency rank #3,393, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpɐj.ʎu/. esperto is at rank #7,905, tagged as anadj, pronounced /isˈpɛʁ.tu/ [isˈpɛh.tu], /esˈpɛʁ.tu/ [esˈpɛh.tu].
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 11298, this pair ranks #61,588 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of espelho vs esperto
Shared letters: eops. Private to "espelho": hl. Private to "esperto": rt.
"espelho" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "esperto" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espelho" for "esperto" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "espelho" or "esperto" show up more?
Useful next steps
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "espelho" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "esperto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #61,588 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espelho" and "esperto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "esperto vs esterno". 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 #61,588 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.