Which to use
“oco” is an adjective and “olá” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,951
- “oco” frequency rank
- #1,198
- “olá” frequency rank
- 29149
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | oco | olá |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não tem miolo | usa-se ao encontrar alguém, como saudação |
Where the eye mixes oco and olá
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.
Look-alike desk: oco vs olá
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oco is /ˈo.ku/ while olá is /o.'la/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29149, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
oco is recorded at frequency rank #27,951, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈo.ku/. olá is at rank #1,198, tagged as anintj, pronounced /o.'la/.
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 29149, this pair ranks #39,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of oco vs olá
Shared letters: o. Private to "oco": c. Private to "olá": lá.
"oco" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "olá" · 3 letters · shape VCV
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "oco" for "olá" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "oco" or "olá" show up more?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "oco" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "olá" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "oco" and "olá" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oco vs oni". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #39,566 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.