obravsóperaConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#702
“obra” frequency rank
#8,708
“ópera” frequency rank
9410
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature obra ópera
Definition resultado de uma ação ou de um trabalho drama teatral quase inteiramente cantado com acompanhamento de orquestra

Where the eye mixes obra and ópera

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
obra
5 ch
ópera

Look-alike desk: obra vs ópera

A purely visual mix-up. obra (/ˈɔ.bɾɐ/) and ópera (/ˈɔ.pɨ.ɾɐ/) 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 9410, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

obra is recorded at frequency rank #702, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔ.bɾɐ/. ópera is at rank #8,708, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈɔ.pɨ.ɾɐ/.

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 9410, this pair ranks #64,028 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of obra vs ópera

Shared letters: ar. Private to "obra": bo. Private to "ópera": epó.

"obra" · 4 letters · shape VCCV  ·  "ópera" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • obraobar · obbra · obrra · orba

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "obra" and "ópera" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈɔ.bɾɐ/ versus /ˈɔ.pɨ.ɾɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "obra" vs "ópera" - which ranks higher?
"obra" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #702 in our Portuguese list, against #8,708 for "ópera". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "obra" and "ópera" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "obra" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ópera" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #64,028 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "obra" and "ópera" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "opala vs ópera". 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 #64,028 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