latovslegoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lato is a noun, lego is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lato” is a noun and “lego” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#22,703
“lato” frequency rank
#15,378
“lego” frequency rank
38081
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lato lego
Definition verão ajuntar

Where the spellings diverge

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

4 ch
lato
4 ch
lego

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lato is /ˈlatɔ/ while lego is /ˈle.ɡoː/, [ˈɫɛ.ɡoː]. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 38081, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lato is recorded at frequency rank #22,703, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈlatɔ/. lego is at rank #15,378, tagged as averb, pronounced /ˈle.ɡoː/, [ˈɫɛ.ɡoː].

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 38081, this pair ranks #28,433 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of lato vs lego

Shared letters: lo. Private to "lato": at. Private to "lego": eg.

"lato" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "lego" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • latolaot · latto · llato · ltao
  • legoelgo · leggo · leog · lgeo · llego

Frequency comparison

lato#22,703
lego#15,378

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lato" and "lego" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lato" is a noun and "lego" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lato" or "lego"?
"lego" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #15,378 in our Portuguese list, against #22,703 for "lato". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering lato vs lego

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “lato”; for a verb, it's “lego”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lato” 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