serviçal vs serviço, What's the Difference?

Which to use

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

#47,086
“serviçal” frequency rank: #528
“serviço” frequency rank: 47614
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	serviçal	serviço
Definition	prestável	o ato de servir

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set serviçal and serviço apart are highlighted. They share 6 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

8 ch

serviçal

7 ch

serviço

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: serviçal is /sɨɾ.vi.ˈsaɫ/ while serviço is /sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 47614, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

serviçal is recorded at frequency rank #47,086, classified as anadj, pronounced /sɨɾ.vi.ˈsaɫ/. serviço is at rank #528, tagged as anoun, pronounced /sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/.

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 47614, this pair ranks #17,616 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of serviçal vs serviço

Shared letters: eirsvç. Private to "serviçal": al. Private to "serviço": o.

"serviçal" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC · "serviço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV

Frequency comparison

serviçal#47,086

serviço#528

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "serviçal" and "serviço" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "serviçal" is an adjective and "serviço" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "serviçal" or "serviço"?

"serviço" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #528 in our Portuguese list, against #47,086 for "serviçal". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering serviçal vs serviço

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an adjective, it's “serviçal”; for a noun, it's “serviço”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “serviçal” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable