robevsrocaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#43,134
“robe” frequency rank
#20,120
“roca” frequency rank
63254
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature robe roca
Definition tipo de roupa feminina e confortável, de tecido leve, com uma abertura na parte da frente, normalmente utilizada sobre outra roupa; penhoar cana ou vara preparada para fiar

Where the eye mixes robe and roca

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
robe
4 ch
roca

Visual trap between robe and roca

A purely visual mix-up. robe (/ˈRɔ.bɨ/) and roca (/ˈRɔ.kɐ/) 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 63254, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

robe is recorded at frequency rank #43,134, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɔ.bɨ/. roca is at rank #20,120, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈRɔ.kɐ/.

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 63254, this pair ranks #6,276 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of robe vs roca

Shared letters: or. Private to "robe": be. Private to "roca": ac.

"robe" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "roca" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • roberboe · robbe · roeb · rrobe
  • rocaorca · rcoa · roac · rocca · rroca

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "robe" for "roca" ever safe?
No. They are said differently (/ˈRɔ.bɨ/ versus /ˈRɔ.kɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "robe" vs "roca" - which ranks higher?
"roca" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #20,120 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.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "robe" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "roca" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #6,276 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "robe" and "roca" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "rabi vs robe". 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 #6,276 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