espetovsespiãoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“espeto” and “espião” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#31,356
“espeto” frequency rank
#13,286
“espião” frequency rank
44642
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature espeto espião
Definition haste de ferro ou pau pontiagudo para assar carne ou peixe pessoa empregada por um governo ou companhia para obter informações secretas sobre outro governo ou companhia

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set espeto and espião apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
espeto
6 ch
espião

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

espeto and espião are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 44642, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

espeto is recorded at frequency rank #31,356, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpe.tu/. espião is at rank #13,286, tagged as anoun.

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 44642, this pair ranks #20,806 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of espeto vs espião

Shared letters: eops. Private to "espeto": t. Private to "espião": .

"espeto" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV  ·  "espião" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • espetoepseto · esepto · espeot · espetto · esppeto · espteo · esspeto · sepeto

Frequency comparison

espeto#31,356
espião#13,286

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "espeto" and "espião" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "espeto" or "espião"?
"espião" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,286 in our Portuguese list, against #31,356 for "espeto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering espeto vs espião

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “espeto” 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