oitenta vs ostentar, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“oitenta” is a num and “ostentar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#9,224
“oitenta” frequency rank: #27,598
“ostentar” frequency rank: 36822
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	oitenta	ostentar
Definition	número equivalente a oito dezenas; cardinalidade de um conjunto que contenha oito dezenas de elementos distintos; representado pelo símbolo 80 (algarismos arábicos) ou LXXX (algarismos romanos)	mostrar ou exibir com aparato

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set oitenta and ostentar apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch

oitenta

8 ch

ostentar

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: oitenta is /oj.ˈtẽ.tɐ/ while ostentar is /ɔʃ.tẽ.ˈtaɾ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (num vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 36822, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

oitenta is recorded at frequency rank #9,224, classified as anum, pronounced /oj.ˈtẽ.tɐ/. ostentar is at rank #27,598, tagged as averb, pronounced /ɔʃ.tẽ.ˈtaɾ/.

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 36822, this pair ranks #29,905 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of oitenta vs ostentar

Shared letters: aenot. Private to "oitenta": i. Private to "ostentar": rs.

"oitenta" · 7 letters · shape VVCVCCV · "ostentar" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

oitenta ← iotenta · oietnta · oitenat · oitennta · oitentta · oitetna · oitneta · oittenta
ostentar ← osetntar · osstentar · ostenatr · ostenntar · ostentarr · ostentra · ostenttar · ostetnar

Frequency comparison

oitenta#9,224

ostentar#27,598

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "oitenta" and "ostentar" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "oitenta" is a num and "ostentar" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "oitenta" or "ostentar"?

"oitenta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,224 in our Portuguese list, against #27,598 for "ostentar". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering oitenta vs ostentar

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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