Which to use
“metal” and “metro” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #3,027
- “metal” frequency rank
- #4,246
- “metro” frequency rank
- 7273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | metal | metro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | toda substância simples, dotada de brilho próprio (brilho metálico), boa condutora de calor e de eletricidade, que forma óxidos básicos em contato com o oxigênio, e que na eletrólise se dirige ao pólo negativo | medida que regula a quantidade de sílabas de cada verso |
Where the eye mixes metal and metro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: metal vs metro
A purely visual mix-up. metal (/mɨ.ˈtaɫ/) and metro (/ˈmɛ.tɾu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
metal is recorded at frequency rank #3,027, classified as anoun, pronounced /mɨ.ˈtaɫ/. metro is at rank #4,246, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɛ.tɾu/.
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 7273, this pair ranks #66,896 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of metal vs metro
Shared letters: emt. Private to "metal": al. Private to "metro": or.
"metal" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC · "metro" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "metal" for "metro" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "metal" or "metro" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "metal" and "metro" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "metal" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "metro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,896 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "metal" and "metro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "metro vs muto". 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 #66,896 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.