pombovspomoConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#14,928
“pombo” frequency rank
#44,054
“pomo” frequency rank
58982
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pombo pomo
Definition ave da ordem das columbinas com muitas espécies domésticas e selvagens fruto carnudo

Where the eye mixes pombo and pomo

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. pombo runs 5 letters (CVCCV) against pomo's 4 (CVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

5 ch
pombo
4 ch
pomo

Visual trap between pombo and pomo

A purely visual mix-up. pombo (/ˈpõ.bu/) and pomo (/ˈpo.mu/) 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 58982, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pombo is recorded at frequency rank #14,928, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpõ.bu/. pomo is at rank #44,054, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.mu/.

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 58982, this pair ranks #8,440 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of pombo vs pomo

Shared letters: mop. Private to "pombo": b. Private to "pomo": -.

"pombo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV  ·  "pomo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pombo ← opmbo · pmobo · pobmo · pombbo · pommbo · pomob · ppombo
  • pomo ← opmo · pmoo · pommo · poom · ppomo

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "pombo" and "pomo" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpõ.bu/ versus /ˈpo.mu/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pombo" or "pomo"?
"pombo" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,928 in our Portuguese list, against #44,054 for "pomo". 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 "pombo" and "pomo" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "pombo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "pomo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #8,440 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "pombo" and "pomo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pito 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 #8,440 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