referendovsreferidoWhat's the difference?

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

Which to use

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

#10,431
“referendo” frequency rank
#5,786
“referido” frequency rank
16217
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature referendo referido
Definition instrumento da democracia semi-direta por meio do qual os cidadãos eleitores são chamados a pronunciar-se por sufrágio direto e secreto, a título vinculativo, sobre determinados assuntos de relevante interesse à nação citado

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set referendo and referido apart are highlighted. They share 7 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

9 ch
referendo
8 ch
referido

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: referendo is /Rɨ.fɨ.ˈɾẽ.du/ while referido is /Rɨ.fɨ.ˈɾi.du/. 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 16217, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

referendo is recorded at frequency rank #10,431, classified as anoun, pronounced /Rɨ.fɨ.ˈɾẽ.du/. referido is at rank #5,786, tagged as anadj, pronounced /Rɨ.fɨ.ˈɾi.du/.

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 16217, this pair ranks #55,399 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of referendo vs referido

Shared letters: defor. Private to "referendo": n. Private to "referido": i.

"referendo" · 9 letters · shape CVCVCVCCV  ·  "referido" · 8 letters · shape CVCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • referendoerferendo · reefrendo · refeerndo · referedno · referenddo · referenndo · referenod · refernedo
  • referidoerferido · reefrido · refeirdo · referdio · referiddo · referiod · referrido · refferido

Frequency comparison

referendo#10,431
referido#5,786

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "referendo" and "referido" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "referendo" is a noun and "referido" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "referendo" or "referido"?
"referido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,786 in our Portuguese list, against #10,431 for "referendo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering referendo vs referido

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

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