Which to use
“ética” is a noun and “étnico” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,815
- “ética” frequency rank
- #14,495
- “étnico” frequency rank
- 18310
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ética | étnico |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | estudo filosófico das leis morais que regem as ações humanas | pertencente ou relativo a uma etnia |
Where the eye mixes ética and étnico
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ética runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against étnico's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ética with étnico
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ética is /ˈɛ.ti.kɐ/ while étnico is /ˈɛt.ni.ku/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18310, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ética is recorded at frequency rank #3,815, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɛ.ti.kɐ/. étnico is at rank #14,495, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈɛt.ni.ku/.
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 18310, this pair ranks #52,710 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ética vs étnico
Shared letters: cité. Private to "ética": a. Private to "étnico": no.
"ética" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV · "étnico" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ética" for "étnico" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ética" or "étnico" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ética" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "étnico" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #52,710 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ética" and "étnico" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "eólico vs étnico". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #52,710 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.