pousavspousadaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#29,092
“pousa” frequency rank
#14,678
“pousada” frequency rank
43770
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature pousa pousada
Definition ato de pousar hotel modesto, em geral com poucos quartos

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set pousa and pousada apart are highlighted. They share 5 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
pousa
7 ch
pousada

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. pousa (/ˈpo.zɐ/) and pousada (/pow.ˈza.dɐ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “pousa” sits inside “pousada”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 43770, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

pousa is recorded at frequency rank #29,092, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈpo.zɐ/. pousada is at rank #14,678, tagged as anoun, pronounced /pow.ˈza.dɐ/.

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 43770, this pair ranks #21,832 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of pousa vs pousada

Shared letters: aopsu. Private to "pousa": -. Private to "pousada": d.

"pousa" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "pousada" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • pousaopusa · posua · pouas · poussa · ppousa · puosa
  • pousadaopusada · posuada · pouasda · pousaad · pousadda · pousdaa · poussada · ppousada

Frequency comparison

pousa#29,092
pousada#14,678

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "pousa" and "pousada" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈpo.zɐ/ versus /pow.ˈza.dɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "pousa" or "pousada"?
"pousada" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,678 in our Portuguese list, against #29,092 for "pousa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering pousa vs pousada

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 “pousa” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list