Which to use
“motivo” and “moto” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #808
- “motivo” frequency rank
- #3,422
- “moto” frequency rank
- 4230
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | motivo | moto |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | razão, causa | ato ou efeito de mover; movimento |
Where the eye mixes motivo and moto
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. motivo runs 6 letters (CVCVCV) against moto's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between motivo and moto
A purely visual mix-up. motivo (/mu.ˈti.vu/) and moto (/ˈmɔ.tu/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 4230, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
motivo is recorded at frequency rank #808, classified as anoun, pronounced /mu.ˈti.vu/. moto is at rank #3,422, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈmɔ.tu/.
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 4230, this pair ranks #70,755 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of motivo vs moto
Shared letters: mot. Private to "motivo": iv. Private to "moto": -.
"motivo" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "moto" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "motivo" and "moto" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "motivo" or "moto"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "motivo" and "moto" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "motivo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "moto" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #70,755 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "motivo" and "moto" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "moto vs muso". 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 #70,755 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.