raposavsrosaWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#9,096
“raposa” frequency rank
#1,551
“rosa” frequency rank
10647
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature raposa rosa
Definition mamífero carnívoro canídeo, ou seja, da família Canidae e da ordem Carnivora, de cauda peluda e pequeno porte, grande predador de aves; as raposas podem ser dos gêneros Vulpes, Alopex, Otocyon ou Urocyon; o som emitido pela raposa se chama regougo; seu macho é o raposo cor-de-rosa, que tem coloração rosácea

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
raposa
4 ch
rosa

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: raposa is /Rɐ.ˈpo.zɐ/ while rosa is /ˈχɔ.zə/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 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 10647, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

raposa is recorded at frequency rank #9,096, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rɐ.ˈpo.zɐ/. rosa is at rank #1,551, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈχɔ.zə/.

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 10647, this pair ranks #62,392 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of raposa vs rosa

Shared letters: aors. Private to "raposa": p. Private to "rosa": -.

"raposa" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV  ·  "rosa" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • raposaarposa · raopsa · rapoas · rapossa · rapposa · rapsoa · rpaosa · rraposa
  • rosaorsa · roas · rossa · rrosa · rsoa

Frequency comparison

raposa#9,096
rosa#1,551

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "raposa" and "rosa" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "raposa" is a noun and "rosa" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "raposa" or "rosa"?
"rosa" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,551 in our Portuguese list, against #9,096 for "raposa". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering raposa vs rosa

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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