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 eye mixes pousa and pousada
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence. pousa runs 5 letters (CVVCV) against pousada's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between pousa and pousada
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
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "pousa" for "pousada" ever safe?
Which is more common, "pousa" or "pousada"?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "pousa" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "pousada" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #21,832 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "pousa" and "pousada" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "pola vs pousa". 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 #21,832 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.