Which to use
“into” is a preposition and “isto” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #10,024
- “into” frequency rank
- #349
- “isto” frequency rank
- 10373
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | into | isto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | em | indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala |
Where the eye mixes into and isto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. into and isto follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (VCCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses into with isto
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: into is /ˈɪn.tuː/, X-SAMPA: /"Intu:/ while isto is /ˈis.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by a single letter - n in “into” becomes s in “isto”, and the parts of speech differ too (preposition vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 10373, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
into is recorded at frequency rank #10,024, classified as aprep, pronounced /ˈɪn.tuː/, X-SAMPA: /"Intu:/. isto is at rank #349, tagged as apron, pronounced /ˈis.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 10373, this pair ranks #62,754 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of into vs isto
Shared letters: iot. Private to "into": n. Private to "isto": s.
"into" · 4 letters · shape VCCV · "isto" · 4 letters · shape VCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "into" for "isto" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "into" or "isto" show up more?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "into" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "isto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #62,754 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "into" and "isto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ino vs into". 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 #62,754 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.