harémvshomemWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#35,624
“harém” frequency rank
#247
“homem” frequency rank
35871
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature harém homem
Definition parte do palácio onde vivem as mulheres (entre os povos muçulmanos) pessoa do sexo ou gênero masculino, geralmente, mas não exclusivamente, adulta

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set harém and homem apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
harém
5 ch
homem

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. harém (/a.ˈɾɐ̃j̃/) and homem (/ˈɔm/) 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 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35871, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

harém is recorded at frequency rank #35,624, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈɾɐ̃j̃/. homem is at rank #247, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔm/.

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 35871, this pair ranks #31,087 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of harém vs homem

Shared letters: hm. Private to "harém": aré. Private to "homem": eo.

"harém" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC  ·  "homem" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • homemhhomem · hmoem · hoemm · homemm · homme · hommem · ohmem

Frequency comparison

harém#35,624
homem#247

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "harém" and "homem" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/a.ˈɾɐ̃j̃/ versus /ˈɔm/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "harém" or "homem"?
"homem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #247 in our Portuguese list, against #35,624 for "harém". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering harém vs homem

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “harém” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list