sacovssacolaWhat's the difference?

Which to use

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

#2,166
“saco” frequency rank
#12,977
“sacola” frequency rank
15143
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature saco sacola
Definition espécie de bolsa de plástico, papel, couro ou pano saco de dois alforjes ou fundos que frades mendicantes usam para recolher as dádivas e que ainda hoje usam os pedintes para levar as esmolas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set saco and sacola apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

4 ch
saco
6 ch
sacola

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

A purely visual mix-up. saco (/ˈsa.ku/) and sacola (/sɐ.ˈkɔ.lɐ/) 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 extra letter(s) - “saco” sits inside “sacola”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15143, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

saco is recorded at frequency rank #2,166, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsa.ku/. sacola is at rank #12,977, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɐ.ˈkɔ.lɐ/.

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 15143, this pair ranks #56,762 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of saco vs sacola

Shared letters: acos. Private to "saco": -. Private to "sacola": l.

"saco" · 4 letters · shape CVCV  ·  "sacola" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sacosacco · saoc · scao · ssaco
  • sacolaascola · saccola · sacloa · sacoal · sacolla · saocla · scaola · ssacola

Frequency comparison

saco#2,166
sacola#12,977

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "saco" and "sacola" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsa.ku/ versus /sɐ.ˈkɔ.lɐ/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "saco" or "sacola"?
"saco" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,166 in our Portuguese list, against #12,977 for "sacola". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering saco vs sacola

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 “saco” 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