Which to use
“esperto” is an adjective and “espírito” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #7,905
- “esperto” frequency rank
- #1,191
- “espírito” frequency rank
- 9096
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | esperto | espírito |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | o mesmo que desperto | alma |
Where the eye mixes esperto and espírito
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. esperto runs 7 letters (VCCVCCV) against espírito's 8 (VCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between esperto and espírito
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: esperto is /isˈpɛʁ.tu/ [isˈpɛh.tu], /esˈpɛʁ.tu/ [esˈpɛh.tu] while espírito is /es.ˈpi.ɾi.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 9096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
esperto is recorded at frequency rank #7,905, classified as anadj, pronounced /isˈpɛʁ.tu/ [isˈpɛh.tu], /esˈpɛʁ.tu/ [esˈpɛh.tu]. espírito is at rank #1,191, tagged as anoun, pronounced /es.ˈpi.ɾi.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 9096, this pair ranks #64,458 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of esperto vs espírito
Shared letters: eoprst. Private to "esperto": -. Private to "espírito": ií.
"esperto" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "espírito" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- esperto ← epserto · eseprto · esperot · esperrto · espertto · espetro · espperto · espreto
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "esperto" for "espírito" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "esperto" or "espírito" 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 "esperto" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espírito" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #64,458 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "esperto" and "espírito" 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 #64,458 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.