Which to use
“selo” and “sulco” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #5,354
- “selo” frequency rank
- #45,610
- “sulco” frequency rank
- 50964
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | selo | sulco |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | pequeno objeto de metal (placa, coluna, anel) usados como assinatura do proprietário para selar e autenticar documentos e cartas | rego |
Where the eye mixes selo and sulco
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. selo runs 4 letters (CVCV) against sulco's 5 (CVCCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between selo and sulco
A purely visual mix-up. selo (/ˈse.lʊ/) and sulco (/ˈsuɫ.ku/) 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 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 50964, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
selo is recorded at frequency rank #5,354, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈse.lʊ/. sulco is at rank #45,610, tagged as anoun, pronounced /ˈsuɫ.ku/.
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 50964, this pair ranks #14,012 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.
Orthographic DNA of selo vs sulco
Shared letters: los. Private to "selo": e. Private to "sulco": cu.
"selo" · 4 letters · shape CVCV · "sulco" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "selo" for "sulco" ever safe?
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "selo" or "sulco" show up more?
What to do next
Eye-level mix-up between "selo" and "sulco" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "selo" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "sulco" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #14,012 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "selo" and "sulco" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sueño vs sulco". 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 #14,012 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.