quadradovsquebradoWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#8,097
“quadrado” frequency rank
#7,328
“quebrado” frequency rank
15425
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quadrado quebrado
Definition em forma de quadrado partido

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quadrado and quebrado apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch
quadrado
8 ch
quebrado

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

quadrado and quebrado are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15425, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quadrado is recorded at frequency rank #8,097, classified as anadj, pronounced /kwɐ.ˈdɾa.du/. quebrado is at rank #7,328, tagged as anadj.

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 15425, this pair ranks #56,395 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quadrado vs quebrado

Shared letters: adoqru. Private to "quadrado": -. Private to "quebrado": be.

"quadrado" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV  ·  "quebrado" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quadradoqaudrado · qquadrado · quadardo · quaddrado · quadraddo · quadraod · quadrdao · quadrrado
  • quebradoqeubrado · qquebrado · quberado · quebardo · quebbrado · quebraddo · quebraod · quebrdao

Frequency comparison

quadrado#8,097
quebrado#7,328

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quadrado" and "quebrado" be used interchangeably?
No. They share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.
Which is more common, "quadrado" or "quebrado"?
"quebrado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,328 in our Portuguese list, against #8,097 for "quadrado". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quadrado vs quebrado

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 “quadrado” 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