passívelvspassivoTell them apart

Which to use

“passível” and “passivo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#21,830
“passível” frequency rank
#13,807
“passivo” frequency rank
35637
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature passível passivo
Definition que pode ser; que tem a potencialidade de diz-se daquele (ou daquilo) que sofre uma ação ou recebe seu efeito

Where the eye mixes passível and passivo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. passível runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVC) against passivo's 7 (CVCCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
passível
7 ch
passivo

Look-alike desk: passível vs passivo

A purely visual mix-up. passível (/pɐ.ˈsi.vɛɫ/) and passivo (/pa.ˈsi.vu/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 35637, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

passível is recorded at frequency rank #21,830, classified as anadj, pronounced /pɐ.ˈsi.vɛɫ/. passivo is at rank #13,807, tagged as anadj, pronounced /pa.ˈsi.vu/ ouvir ^(fonte ?).

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 35637, this pair ranks #31,384 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of passível vs passivo

Shared letters: apsv. Private to "passível": elí. Private to "passivo": io.

"passível" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC  ·  "passivo" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • passivo ← apssivo · pasisvo · pasivo · passiov · passivvo · passvio · ppassivo · psasivo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "passível" and "passivo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/pɐ.ˈsi.vɛɫ/ versus /pa.ˈsi.vu/ ouvir ^(fonte ?)) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "passível" vs "passivo" - which ranks higher?
"passivo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #13,807 in our Portuguese list, against #21,830 for "passível". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "passível" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "passivo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #31,384 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "passível" and "passivo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "passível vs plausível". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #31,384 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