oievsoniWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: oie is a noun, oni is a pronoun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“oie” is a noun and “oni” is a pronoun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#30,656
“oie” frequency rank
#49,618
“oni” frequency rank
80274
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature oie oni
Definition ganso pronome pessoal do caso nominativo da terceira pessoa do plural de gênero masculino pessoal, eles

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oie and oni apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

3 ch
oie
3 ch
oni

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: oie is anoun and oniapronoun. On the page they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 80274, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oie is recorded at frequency rank #30,656, classified as anoun, pronounced /wa/. oni is at rank #49,618, tagged as apron.

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 80274, this pair ranks #1,355 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of oie vs oni

Shared letters: io. Private to "oie": e. Private to "oni": n.

"oie" · 3 letters · shape VVV  ·  "oni" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequency comparison

oie#30,656
oni#49,618

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oie" and "oni" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oie" is a noun and "oni" a pronoun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "oie" or "oni"?
"oie" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #30,656 in our Portuguese list, against #49,618 for "oni". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oie vs oni

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “oie”; for a pronoun, it's “oni”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “oie” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list