melhoriavsmemóriaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#5,653
“melhoria” frequency rank
#1,249
“memória” frequency rank
6902
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature melhoria memória
Definition recuperação do estado anterior faculdade de conservar e reproduzir as ideias, imagens ou conhecimentos anteriormente adquiridos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set melhoria and memória apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
melhoria
7 ch
memória

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. melhoria (/mɨ.ʎu.ˈɾi.ɐ/) and memória (/mɨ.ˈmɔ.ɾjɐ/) 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 6902, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

melhoria is recorded at frequency rank #5,653, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ʎu.ˈɾi.ɐ/. memória is at rank #1,249, tagged as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈmɔ.ɾjɐ/.

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 6902, this pair ranks #67,396 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of melhoria vs memória

Shared letters: aeimr. Private to "melhoria": hlo. Private to "memória": ó.

"melhoria" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "memória" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • melhoriaemlhoria · mehloria · melhhoria · melhoira · melhorai · melhorria · melhroia · mellhoria

Frequency comparison

melhoria#5,653
memória#1,249

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "melhoria" and "memória" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/mɨ.ʎu.ˈɾi.ɐ/ versus /mɨ.ˈmɔ.ɾjɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "melhoria" or "memória"?
"memória" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,249 in our Portuguese list, against #5,653 for "melhoria". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering melhoria vs memória

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 “melhoria” 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