lagovslutoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#2,955
“lago” frequency rank
#5,112
“luto” frequency rank
8067
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lago luto
Definition acumulação permanente de água numa depressão dor causada pela morte de alguém ou por grande calamidade

Where the eye mixes lago and luto

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
lago
4 ch
luto

Why the eye confuses lago with luto

A purely visual mix-up. lago (/ˈla.ɡu/) and luto (/ˈlu.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 8067, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lago is recorded at frequency rank #2,955, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈla.ɡu/. luto is at rank #5,112, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈlu.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 8067, this pair ranks #65,842 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lago vs luto

Shared letters: lo. Private to "lago": ag. Private to "luto": tu.

"lago" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "luto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lagolaggo · laog · lgao · llago
  • lutolluto · ltuo · luot · lutto · ulto

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "lago" and "luto" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈla.ɡu/ versus /ˈlu.tu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "lago" or "luto"?
"lago" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,955 in our Portuguese list, against #5,112 for "luto". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "lago" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "luto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #65,842 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "lago" and "luto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "ludo vs luto". 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 #65,842 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