misturavsmostraWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,588
“mistura” frequency rank
#772
“mostra” frequency rank
3360
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mistura mostra
Definition ato ou efeito de misturar duas ou mais coisas exemplo, espécime

Where the eye mixes mistura and mostra

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

7 ch
mistura
6 ch
mostra

Why the eye confuses mistura with mostra

A purely visual mix-up. mistura (/miʃ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/) and mostra (/ˈmɔʃ.tɾɐ/) 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 3360, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

mistura is recorded at frequency rank #2,588, classified as anoun, pronounced /miʃ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/. mostra is at rank #772, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔʃ.tɾɐ/.

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 3360, this pair ranks #71,808 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mistura vs mostra

Shared letters: amrst. Private to "mistura": iu. Private to "mostra": o.

"mistura" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV  ·  "mostra" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • misturaimstura · misstura · mistrua · misttura · mistuar · misturra · misutra · mitsura
  • mostrammostra · mosrta · mosstra · mostar · mosttra · motsra · msotra · omstra

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mistura" and "mostra" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/miʃ.ˈtu.ɾɐ/ versus /ˈmɔʃ.tɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "mistura" or "mostra" show up more?
"mostra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #772 in our Portuguese list, against #2,588 for "mistura". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mistura" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mostra" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #71,808 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mistura" and "mostra" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "masturba vs mistura". 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 #71,808 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list