poçovspopWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: poço is a noun, pop is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“poço” is a noun and “pop” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#5,129
“poço” frequency rank
#2,648
“pop” frequency rank
7777
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature poço pop
Definition buraco fundo, geralmente circular, cavado no chão, com o objetivo de encontrar água relativo à música pop

Where the eye mixes poço and pop

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
poço
3 ch
pop

Look-alike desk: poço vs pop

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: poço is /ˈpo.su/ while pop is /ˈpɔp/. 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 (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7777, 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/. pop is at rank #2,648, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈpɔp/.

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 7777, this pair ranks #66,272 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of poço vs pop

Shared letters: op. Private to "poço": ç. Private to "pop": -.

"poço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "pop" · 3 letters · shape CVC

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "poço" and "pop" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "poço" is a noun and "pop" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "poço" or "pop"?
"pop" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,648 in our Portuguese list, against #5,129 for "poço". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.

  • Full dictionary entry for "poço" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pop" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #66,272 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "poço" and "pop" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pix vs pop". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #66,272 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