quilovsquintoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: quilo is a noun, quinto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“quilo” is a noun and “quinto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#14,216
“quilo” frequency rank
#4,587
“quinto” frequency rank
18803
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature quilo quinto
Definition quilograma ordem de um elemento em um conjunto, que ocupe a posição equivalente ao número cinco.

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set quilo and quinto apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch
quilo
6 ch
quinto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: quilo is /ˈki.lu/ while quinto is /ˈkĩ.tu/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18803, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

quilo is recorded at frequency rank #14,216, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈki.lu/. quinto is at rank #4,587, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈkĩ.tu/.

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 18803, this pair ranks #52,096 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of quilo vs quinto

Shared letters: ioqu. Private to "quilo": l. Private to "quinto": nt.

"quilo" · 5 letters · shape CVVCV  ·  "quinto" · 6 letters · shape CVVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • quiloqiulo · qquilo · quillo · quiol · qulio · uqilo
  • quintoqiunto · qquinto · quinnto · quinot · quintto · quitno · qunito · uqinto

Frequency comparison

quilo#14,216
quinto#4,587

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "quilo" and "quinto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "quilo" is a noun and "quinto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "quilo" or "quinto"?
"quinto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #4,587 in our Portuguese list, against #14,216 for "quilo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering quilo vs quinto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “quilo”; for an adjective, it's “quinto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “quilo” 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