português vs portugueses, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#541
“português” frequency rank: #2,343
“portugueses” frequency rank: 2884
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	português	portugueses
Definition	pertencente a Portugal ou relativo a ele	plural de português

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set português and portugueses apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch

português

11 ch

portugueses

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. português (/poʁ.tuˈɡe(j)s/ [poh.tuˈɡe(ɪ̯)s]) and portugueses (/poɾ.tu.ˈge.zis/) 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 2 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 2884, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

português is recorded at frequency rank #541, classified as anadj, pronounced /poʁ.tuˈɡe(j)s/ [poh.tuˈɡe(ɪ̯)s]. portugueses is at rank #2,343, tagged as anadj, pronounced /poɾ.tu.ˈge.zis/.

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 2884, this pair ranks #72,356 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of português vs portugueses

Shared letters: goprstu. Private to "português": ê. Private to "portugueses": e.

"português" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC · "portugueses" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

portugueses ← oprtugueses · porrtugueses · portguueses · porttugueses · portugeuses · portuggueses · portugueess · portuguesess

Frequency comparison

português#541

portugueses#2,343

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "português" and "portugueses" be used interchangeably?

No. They are said differently (/poʁ.tuˈɡe(j)s/ [poh.tuˈɡe(ɪ̯)s] versus /poɾ.tu.ˈge.zis/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.

Which is more common, "português" or "portugueses"?

"português" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #541 in our Portuguese list, against #2,343 for "portugueses". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering português vs portugueses

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “português” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable