roadvsrobeWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#6,702
“road” frequency rank
#43,134
“robe” frequency rank
49836
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature road robe
Definition estrada, caminho tipo de roupa feminina e confortável, de tecido leve, com uma abertura na parte da frente, normalmente utilizada sobre outra roupa; penhoar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set road and robe apart are highlighted. They share 2 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
road
4 ch
robe

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. road (/ɹəʊd/) and robe (/ˈRɔ.bɨ/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 49836, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

road is recorded at frequency rank #6,702, classified as anoun, pronounced /ɹəʊd/. robe is at rank #43,134, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɔ.bɨ/.

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 49836, this pair ranks #15,148 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of road vs robe

Shared letters: or. Private to "road": ad. Private to "robe": be.

"road" · 4 letters · shape CVVC  ·  "robe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • roadorad · raod · roadd · rroad
  • roberboe · robbe · roeb · rrobe

Frequency comparison

road#6,702
robe#43,134

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "road" and "robe" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ɹəʊd/ versus /ˈRɔ.bɨ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "road" or "robe"?
"road" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,702 in our Portuguese list, against #43,134 for "robe". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering road vs robe

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Read both glosses above and match the meaning you intend, only context separates this pair.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “road” 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list