Which to use
“like” is an adverb and “livre” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #2,734
- “like” frequency rank
- #535
- “livre” frequency rank
- 3269
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | like | livre |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | como, feito | o que tem a faculdade de agir ou não agir |
Where the eye mixes like and livre
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. like runs 4 letters (CVCV) against livre's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between like and livre
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: like is /laɪk/ while livre is /ˈli.vɾɨ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adverb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 3269, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
like is recorded at frequency rank #2,734, classified as anadv, pronounced /laɪk/. livre is at rank #535, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈli.vɾɨ/.
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 3269, this pair ranks #71,899 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of like vs livre
Shared letters: eil. Private to "like": k. Private to "livre": rv.
"like" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "livre" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "like" and "livre" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "like" or "livre" 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 "like" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "livre" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #71,899 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "like" and "livre" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Lied vs like". 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 #71,899 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.