Which to use
“espia” and “espião” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #41,012
- “espia” frequency rank
- #13,286
- “espião” frequency rank
- 54298
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espia | espião |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pessoa que observa escondida | pessoa empregada por um governo ou companhia para obter informações secretas sobre outro governo ou companhia |
Letter map: espia vs espião
Shared letters muted; letters that set espia and espião apart highlighted. Shared run: 4.
Spelling & dictionary notes on espia vs espião
espia 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 differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54298, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espia is recorded at frequency rank #41,012, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.ɐ/. 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 54298, this pair ranks #11,373 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of espia vs espião
Shared letters: eips. Private to "espia": a. Private to "espião": oã.
"espia" · 5 letters · shape VCCVV · "espião" · 6 letters · shape VCCVVV
Known mistypes of this pair
- espia ← epsia · esipa · espai · esppia · esspia · sepia
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "espia" and "espião" mean the same thing in a sentence?
Frequency check: "espia" vs "espião" - which ranks higher?
Useful next steps
Pair "espia" vs "espião" is on the table, pick a follow-up below.
- Full dictionary entry for "espia" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espião" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,373 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espia" and "espião" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espia vs espinal". 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 #11,373 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.