Which to use
“melhor” is an adjective and “melhora” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #95
- “melhor” frequency rank
- #5,023
- “melhora” frequency rank
- 5118
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | melhor | melhora |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | superlativo de bom | melhorada, melhoramento, melhoria |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set melhor and melhora apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
melhor and melhora form a confusable pair in the Portuguese index, two distinct headwords that are easily confused because they look alike, sound alike, or both. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “melhor” sits inside “melhora” - close enough that the eye skips over the difference, far enough that meaning fully diverges. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5118, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
melhor is recorded at frequency rank #95, classified as anadj, pronounced /me.ˈʎɒɹ/. melhora is at rank #5,023, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈʎɔ.ɾɐ/.
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 5118, this pair ranks #69,587 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "melhor" and "melhora" be used interchangeably?
Remembering melhor vs melhora
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “melhor”; for a noun, it's “melhora”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “melhor” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable