Which to use
“poço” and “poços” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,129
- “poço” frequency rank
- #11,936
- “poços” frequency rank
- 17065
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poço | poços |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | buraco fundo, geralmente circular, cavado no chão, com o objetivo de encontrar água | plural de poço |
Where the eye mixes poço and poços
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. poço runs 4 letters (CVCV) against poços's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between poço and poços
A purely visual mix-up. poço (/ˈpo.su/) and poços (/ˈpɔ.sus/) 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 extra letter(s) - “poço” sits inside “poços”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 17065, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
poço is recorded at frequency rank #5,129, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.su/. poços is at rank #11,936, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpɔ.sus/.
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 17065, this pair ranks #54,275 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of poço vs poços
Shared letters: opç. Private to "poço": -. Private to "poços": s.
"poço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "poços" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "poço" and "poços" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "poço" or "poços" show up more?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "poço" and "poços" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "poço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "poços" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #54,275 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poço" and "poços" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poços vs pomo". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #54,275 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.