locovslongoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#11,910
“loco” frequency rank
#479
“longo” frequency rank
12389
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature loco longo
Definition louco de grande extensão, comprido

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set loco and longo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
loco
5 ch
longo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. loco (/ˈlo.ko/) and longo (/ˈlõ.ɡu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 12389, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

loco is recorded at frequency rank #11,910, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈlo.ko/. longo is at rank #479, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈlõ.ɡu/.

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 12389, this pair ranks #60,223 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of loco vs longo

Shared letters: lo. Private to "loco": c. Private to "longo": gn.

"loco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "longo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • locolcoo · lloco · locco · looc · olco
  • longollongo · lnogo · logno · longgo · lonngo · lonog · olngo

Frequency comparison

loco#11,910
longo#479

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "loco" and "longo" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈlo.ko/ versus /ˈlõ.ɡu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "loco" or "longo"?
"longo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #479 in our Portuguese list, against #11,910 for "loco". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering loco vs longo

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “loco” 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