Which to use
“ratio” is a noun and “retiro” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,527
- “ratio” frequency rank
- #7,463
- “retiro” frequency rank
- 53990
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ratio | retiro |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | quociente, proporção, razão | primeira pessoa do singular do presente indicativo do verbo retirar |
Where the eye mixes ratio and retiro
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 4 letters in sequence. ratio runs 5 letters (CVCVV) against retiro's 6 (CVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: ratio vs retiro
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ratio is /ɻeɪ.ʃi.oʊ/ while retiro is /Rɨ.ˈti.ɾu/. 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 verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 53990, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ratio is recorded at frequency rank #46,527, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɻeɪ.ʃi.oʊ/. retiro is at rank #7,463, tagged as averb, pronounced /Rɨ.ˈti.ɾu/.
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 53990, this pair ranks #11,643 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of ratio vs retiro
Shared letters: iort. Private to "ratio": a. Private to "retiro": e.
"ratio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "retiro" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "ratio" for "retiro" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ratio" or "retiro" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "ratio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "retiro" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #11,643 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ratio" and "retiro" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs ratio". 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 #11,643 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.