Which to use
“service” and “serviço” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #6,707
- “service” frequency rank
- #528
- “serviço” frequency rank
- 7235
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | service | serviço |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | serviço | o ato de servir |
Where the eye mixes service and serviço
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 5 letters in sequence.
Look-alike desk: service vs serviço
A purely visual mix-up. service (/ˈsɜːvɪs/) and serviço (/sɨɾ.ˈvi.su/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7235, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
service is recorded at frequency rank #6,707, classified as anoun, pronounced /ˈsɜːvɪs/. 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 7235, this pair ranks #66,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of service vs serviço
Shared letters: eirsv. Private to "service": c. Private to "serviço": oç.
"service" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "serviço" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- service ← esrvice · serivce · serrvice · servcie · servicce · serviec · servvice · sevrice
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "service" for "serviço" ever safe?
Which is more common, "service" or "serviço"?
After this comparison
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "service" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "serviço" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #66,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "service" and "serviço" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "serviçal vs service". 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 #66,948 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.