Which to use
“poço” and “povo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,129
- “poço” frequency rank
- #432
- “povo” frequency rank
- 5561
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | poço | povo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | buraco fundo, geralmente circular, cavado no chão, com o objetivo de encontrar água | conjunto dos habitantes de um país, de uma cidade, de uma localidade, etc |
Where the eye mixes poço and povo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. poço and povo follow the identical consonant-vowel pattern (CVCV). Same shape at a glance is often the real trap, independent of shared letters.
Why the eye confuses poço with povo
A purely visual mix-up. poço (/ˈpo.su/) and povo (/ˈpo.vu/) 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 a single letter - ç in “poço” becomes v in “povo”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 5561, 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/. povo is at rank #432, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.vu/.
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 5561, this pair ranks #69,024 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of poço vs povo
Shared letters: op. Private to "poço": ç. Private to "povo": v.
"poço" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "povo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- povo ← opvo · poov · povvo · ppovo · pvoo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "poço" for "povo" ever safe?
Which is more common, "poço" or "povo"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "poço" and "povo" 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 "povo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #69,024 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "poço" and "povo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "poço vs pomo". 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 #69,024 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.