seção vs selo, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#2,496
“seção” frequency rank: #5,354
“selo” frequency rank: 7850
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	seção	selo
Definition	subdivisão de um capítulo, obra, tratado ou estudo	pequeno objeto de metal (placa, coluna, anel) usados como assinatura do proprietário para selar e autenticar documentos e cartas

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set seção and selo apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

5 ch

seção

4 ch

selo

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

seção and selo are indexed as a confusable Portuguese pair. We have no recorded pronunciation or part of speech for both members, so the spelling overlap is what we can show you: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7850, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

seção is recorded at frequency rank #2,496, classified as anoun. selo is at rank #5,354, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈse.lʊ/.

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 7850, this pair ranks #66,155 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of seção vs selo

Shared letters: eos. Private to "seção": ãç. Private to "selo": l.

"seção" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "selo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

selo ← eslo · sello · seol · sleo · sselo

Frequency comparison

seção#2,496

selo#5,354

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "seção" and "selo" be used interchangeably?

No. They differ by 1 letter(s) in length, but the dictionary glosses above give them different meanings, so swapping one for the other changes what the sentence says.

Which is more common, "seção" or "selo"?

"seção" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,496 in our Portuguese list, against #5,354 for "selo". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering seção vs selo

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 “seção” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable