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 eye mixes ob and ons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. ob runs 2 letters (VC) against ons's 3 (VCC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses ob with ons
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "ob" and "ons" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ob" or "ons" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ob" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "ons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #1,930 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ob" and "ons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oni vs ons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #1,930 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.