sériovssérvioConfusable pair

Which to use

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

#544
“sério” frequency rank
#11,357
“sérvio” frequency rank
11901
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sério sérvio
Definition que demonstra profundo pensar relacionado à Sérvia

Where the eye mixes sério and sérvio

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.

5 ch
sério
6 ch
sérvio

Visual trap between sério and sérvio

A purely visual mix-up. sério (/ˈsɛ.ɾju/) and sérvio (/ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/) 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 11901, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sério is recorded at frequency rank #544, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɛ.ɾju/. sérvio is at rank #11,357, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/.

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 11901, this pair ranks #60,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of sério vs sérvio

Shared letters: iorsé. Private to "sério": -. Private to "sérvio": v.

"sério" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV  ·  "sérvio" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "sério" and "sérvio" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently (/ˈsɛ.ɾju/ versus /ˈsɛɾ.vju/, /ˈsɛɾ.vi.u/) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary Portuguese text, does "sério" or "sérvio" show up more?
"sério" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #544 in our Portuguese list, against #11,357 for "sérvio". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

Eye-level mix-up between "sério" and "sérvio" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "sério" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "sérvio" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #60,839 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "sério" and "sérvio" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "sereis vs sérvio". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #60,839 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