exceçãovsexcertoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#3,327
“exceção” frequency rank
#32,977
“excerto” frequency rank
36304
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature exceção excerto
Definition ato ou efeito de excetuar extrato, fragmento de um texto; trecho

Where the eye mixes exceção and excerto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. exceção (VCCVCVV) and excerto (VCCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

7 ch
exceção
7 ch
excerto

Visual trap between exceção and excerto

A purely visual mix-up. exceção (/ɐjʃ.sɛ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/) and excerto (/e."sEx.tu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36304, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

exceção is recorded at frequency rank #3,327, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɐjʃ.sɛ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/. excerto is at rank #32,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced /e."sEx.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 36304, this pair ranks #30,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of exceção vs excerto

Shared letters: ceox. Private to "exceção": ãç. Private to "excerto": rt.

"exceção" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVV  ·  "excerto" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • excerto ← ecxerto · exccerto · excerot · excerrto · excertto · excetro · excreto · execrto

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "exceção" and "excerto" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɐjʃ.sɛ.ˈsɐ̃w̃/ versus /e."sEx.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "exceção" or "excerto"?
"exceção" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #3,327 in our Portuguese list, against #32,977 for "excerto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "exceção" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "excerto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #30,545 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "exceção" and "excerto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "enxerto vs excerto". 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 #30,545 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