sertãovssextoWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: sertão is a noun, sexto is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“sertão” is a noun and “sexto” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#7,834
“sertão” frequency rank
#7,338
“sexto” frequency rank
15172
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature sertão sexto
Definition zona pouco habitada do interior do Brasil, sobretudo a região semi-árida do norte-ocidental refere-se àquele que ocupa a posição sexta em uma série; o que vem depois do quinto

Where the spellings diverge

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

6 ch
sertão
5 ch
sexto

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

Our dataset has no pronunciation recorded for both members, so the reliable separator here is grammatical: sertão is anoun and sextoanadjective. On the page they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15172, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

sertão is recorded at frequency rank #7,834, classified as anoun. sexto is at rank #7,338, tagged as anadj.

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 15172, this pair ranks #56,728 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of sertão vs sexto

Shared letters: eost. Private to "sertão": . Private to "sexto": x.

"sertão" · 6 letters · shape CVCCVV  ·  "sexto" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • sextoesxto · setxo · sexot · sextto · sexxto · ssexto · sxeto

Frequency comparison

sertão#7,834
sexto#7,338

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "sertão" and "sexto" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "sertão" is a noun and "sexto" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "sertão" or "sexto"?
"sexto" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #7,338 in our Portuguese list, against #7,834 for "sertão". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering sertão vs sexto

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “sertão”; for an adjective, it's “sexto”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “sertão” 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