iodovsistoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: iodo is a noun, isto is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“iodo” is a noun and “isto” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#27,142
“iodo” frequency rank
#349
“isto” frequency rank
27491
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature iodo isto
Definition elemento químico de símbolo I, possui o número atômico 53 e massa atômica relativa 126,904 u; é um não-metal, halogênio, de cor negra; apesar de abundante, não é encontrado livre na natureza, ocorrendo principalmente na forma de iodetos e iodatos em rochas, solos, água do mar e depósitos de sal; é utilizado principalmente na medicina, como desinfetante; é um elemento essencial para o corpo humano; sua falta provoca o hipotiroidismo causando o bócio e a mixedema indica algo que está próximo a quem fala ou assunto de que se fala

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
iodo
4 ch
isto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: iodo is /ˈjo.du/ while isto is /ˈis.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27491, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

iodo is recorded at frequency rank #27,142, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈjo.du/. 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 27491, this pair ranks #41,464 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of iodo vs isto

Shared letters: io. Private to "iodo": d. Private to "isto": st.

"iodo" · 4 letters · shape VVCV  ·  "isto" · 4 letters · shape VCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • iodoidoo · ioddo · iood · oido
  • istoisot · issto · istto · itso

Frequency comparison

iodo#27,142
isto#349

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "iodo" and "isto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "iodo" is a noun and "isto" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "iodo" or "isto"?
"isto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #349 in our Portuguese list, against #27,142 for "iodo". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering iodo vs isto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “iodo”; for a pronoun, it's “isto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “iodo” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list