ob vs ons, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#28,692
“ob” frequency rank: #48,564
“ons” frequency rank: 77256
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	ob	ons
Definition	eu, pronome pessoal do caso nominativo da primeira pessoa do singular;	pronome pessoal neutro do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do plural

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set ob and ons apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

2 ch

3 ch

ons

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. ob (/ob/) and ons (/ons/) 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 77256, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

ob is recorded at frequency rank #28,692, classified as apron, pronounced /ob/. ons is at rank #48,564, tagged as apron, pronounced /ons/.

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 77256, this pair ranks #1,930 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ob vs ons

Shared letters: o. Private to "ob": b. Private to "ons": ns.

"ob" · 2 letters · shape VC · "ons" · 3 letters · shape VCC

Frequency comparison

ob#28,692

ons#48,564

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "ob" and "ons" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/ob/ versus /ons/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "ob" or "ons"?

"ob" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #28,692 in our Portuguese list, against #48,564 for "ons". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering ob vs ons

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 “ob” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable