ratiovsrioWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

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

#46,527
“ratio” frequency rank
#173
“rio” frequency rank
46700
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature ratio rio
Definition quociente, proporção, razão curso por onde passa água doce continuamente (ou durante épocas específicas do ano)

Where the eye mixes ratio and rio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.

5 ch
ratio
3 ch
rio

Visual trap between ratio and rio

A purely visual mix-up. ratio (/ɻeɪ.ʃi.oʊ/) and rio (/ʁi.u/ [ʁiu̯]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46700, 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/. rio is at rank #173, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ʁi.u/ [ʁiu̯].

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 46700, this pair ranks #18,609 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of ratio vs rio

Shared letters: ior. Private to "ratio": at. Private to "rio": -.

"ratio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "rio" · 3 letters · shape CVV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • ratioartio · raito · ratoi · rattio · rratio · rtaio

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "ratio" and "rio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ɻeɪ.ʃi.oʊ/ versus /ʁi.u/ [ʁiu̯]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "ratio" or "rio" show up more?
"rio" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #173 in our Portuguese list, against #46,527 for "ratio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

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 "ratio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "rio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #18,609 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "ratio" and "rio" 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 #18,609 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list