Which to use
“espinha” and “espinho” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #12,056
- “espinha” frequency rank
- #16,755
- “espinho” frequency rank
- 28811
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | espinha | espinho |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | termo vulgar para a coluna vertebral | parte aguda e picante de um vegetal |
Where the eye mixes espinha and espinho
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. espinha and espinho follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCVCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Visual trap between espinha and espinho
A purely visual mix-up. espinha (/iʃ.ˈpi.ɲɐ/) and espinho (/iʃ.ˈpi.ɲu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by a single letter - a in “espinha” becomes o in “espinho”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28811, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
espinha is recorded at frequency rank #12,056, classified as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.ɲɐ/. espinho is at rank #16,755, tagged as anoun, pronounced /iʃ.ˈpi.ɲu/.
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 28811, this pair ranks #39,966 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of espinha vs espinho
Shared letters: ehinps. Private to "espinha": a. Private to "espinho": o.
"espinha" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV · "espinho" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "espinha" for "espinho" ever safe?
Which is more common, "espinha" or "espinho"?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "espinha" and "espinho" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "espinha" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "espinho" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,966 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "espinha" and "espinho" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "espinal vs espinho". 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 #39,966 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.