Which to use
“oco” is an adjective and “ons” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #27,951
- “oco” frequency rank
- #48,564
- “ons” frequency rank
- 76515
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | oco | ons |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que não tem miolo | pronome pessoal neutro do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do plural |
Where the eye mixes oco and ons
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence. oco (VCV) and ons (VCC) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.
Look-alike desk: oco vs ons
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oco is /ˈo.ku/ while ons is /ons/. 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 pronoun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 76515, 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/. 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 76515, this pair ranks #2,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of oco vs ons
Shared letters: o. Private to "oco": c. Private to "ons": ns.
"oco" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "ons" · 3 letters · shape VCC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "oco" and "ons" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "oco" or "ons" show up more?
What to do next
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 "ons" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #2,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "oco" and "ons" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oni vs ons". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #2,078 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.