espertovsespíritoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: esperto is a adjective, espírito is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

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 spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set esperto and espírito apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
esperto
8 ch
espírito

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

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": .

"esperto" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV  ·  "espírito" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espertoepserto · eseprto · esperot · esperrto · espertto · espetro · espperto · espreto

Frequency comparison

esperto#7,905
espírito#1,191

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "esperto" and "espírito" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "esperto" is an adjective and "espírito" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "esperto" or "espírito"?
"espírito" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,191 in our Portuguese list, against #7,905 for "esperto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering esperto vs espírito

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “esperto”; for a noun, it's “espírito”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “esperto” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list