exatovsexcetoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#4,642
“exato” frequency rank
#2,421
“exceto” frequency rank
7063
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exato exceto
Definition o que não tem erro ou qualquer falta parte contra a qual se propõe exceção

Where the eye mixes exato and exceto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. exato runs 5 letters (VCVCV) against exceto's 6 (VCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
exato
6 ch
exceto

Visual trap between exato and exceto

A purely visual mix-up. exato (/i.ˈza.tu/) and exceto (/ɐjʃ.ˈsɛ.tu/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7063, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exato is recorded at frequency rank #4,642, classified as anadj, pronounced /i.ˈza.tu/. exceto is at rank #2,421, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ɐjʃ.ˈsɛ.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 7063, this pair ranks #67,182 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of exato vs exceto

Shared letters: eotx. Private to "exato": a. Private to "exceto": c.

"exato" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV  ·  "exceto" · 6 letters · shape VCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • exato ← eaxto · exaot · exatto · extao · exxato · xeato
  • exceto ← ecxeto · excceto · exceot · excetto · excteo · execto · exxceto · xeceto

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "exato" for "exceto" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/i.ˈza.tu/ versus /ɐjʃ.ˈsɛ.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "exato" vs "exceto" - which ranks higher?
"exceto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,421 in our Portuguese list, against #4,642 for "exato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Eye-level mix-up between "exato" and "exceto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "exato" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "exceto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #67,182 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exato" and "exceto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "exato vs exit". 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 #67,182 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list