osvsotaConfusable pair

Quick tell: os is a article, ota is an intj, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“os” is an article and “ota” is an intj - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#19
“os” frequency rank
#31,082
“ota” frequency rank
31101
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature os ota
Definition usado para apontar um nome definido, único expressa regozijo pela dor ou sofrimento alheio

Where the eye mixes os and ota

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 1 letter in sequence.

2 ch
os
3 ch
ota

Look-alike desk: os vs ota

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: os is /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente) while ota is /ˈo.tɐ/. 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 (article vs intj), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 31101, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

os is recorded at frequency rank #19, classified as anarticle, pronounced /uʃ/, /us/ (menos frequente); enfático: /oʃ/, /os/ (menos frequente). ota is at rank #31,082, tagged as anintj, pronounced /ˈo.tɐ/.

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 31101, this pair ranks #37,096 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of os vs ota

Shared letters: o. Private to "os": s. Private to "ota": at.

"os" · 2 letters · shape VC  ·  "ota" · 3 letters · shape VCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "os" and "ota" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "os" is an article and "ota" an intj, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "os" vs "ota" - which ranks higher?
"os" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #19 in our Portuguese list, against #31,082 for "ota". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "os" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "ota" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #37,096 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "os" and "ota" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "oni vs ota". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #37,096 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